Former Secretary of State John Merrill spoke to Houston Public Media to discuss the secret ballot in Texas, and efforts to protect voters’ privacy there:
House Bill 5180, which took effect September 1, 2023, lets members of the public get access to ballot images, cast-vote records, and even original voted ballots just 61 days after an election. Conservative activists have argued HB 5180 is necessary to root out voter fraud.
But former Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill, a Republican who now advises the nonpartisan Secure Elections Project, says the law raises the danger of intimidation or even violence against officeholders and individual voters.
“If we have technology or integrated technology that enables someone other than the voter to be able to have that information introduced,” Merrill said, “it puts that individual in a vulnerable position, and that is not something that anyone should support.”