A provision within the new Texas election law requires a 24-hour video livestream and recording of all areas containing voted ballots in counties with populations of 100,000 people or more.
Gov. Greg Abbot signed the Texas Voting Bill SB1 into law during the 2021 legislative session, in part to preserve election integrity and safeguard elections from fraud. The new requirement took effect on December 2, 2021 in time for the 2022 primary elections, which sent county voting administrators hunting for a video surveillance solution that would allow them to remain compliant with the new requirements.
SB 1 Texas REQUIREMENTS
There are a lot of questions about what exactly Texas counties are required to provide for video surveillance within the new SB 1 voting bill. According to the Texas Secretary of State, here's what you need to know:
WHICH TEXAS COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THE VIDEO SURVEILLANCE REQUIREMENTS FOR ELECTIONS?
The new video requirements apply to Texas counties with populations of 100,000 people or more.
WHICH TEXAS POLL LOCATIONS ARE REQUIRED TO BE UNDER VIDEO SURVEILLANCE?
The video recording must be made available anywhere containing voted ballots, including the central counting station (CCS), early voting ballot board (EVBB), or signature verification committee (SVC).
WHAT TIMEFRAME IS REQUIRED FOR VIDEO RECORDINGS BASED ON TEXAS ELECTION LAW SB1?
The livestream video recording must begin with the first meeting of the CCS, EVBB, or SVC (whichever is earlier), and must continue until the local canvass of election results. The recording must be live 24 hours a day, 7 days a week with no interruptions.
WHICH BALLOT TYPES ARE INCLUDED UNDER NEW TEXAS SB1 ELECTION LAW?
“Voted ballots” includes both paper ballots and electronic media containing cast vote records.
WHAT ARE THE TEXAS ELECTION VIDEO surveillance requirements?
Counties are required to livestream and also record for posterity all areas containing voted ballots while votes are being tallied.
Although there is no specific minimum requirements for the number of cameras, the cameras must capture all areas containing voted ballots. Audio is not required as part of the livestream video recording, but it is permitted.
ELECTION BALLOT VIDEO surveillance SOLUTIONS
Many Texas counties tried the free YouTube solution for their 2022 spring primary elections, but experienced frequent headaches. The livestream would randomly fail, causing their video to go down up almost on a daily basis. This placed an added burden on IT staff, requiring them to scramble to get the feed back up and running and remain compliant.
Other Texas counties chose Swagit by Rock Solid to solve their need for a new election ballot video streaming service. Swagit specializes in providing hands-free video streaming® and broadcast solutions to local, state and federal government agencies. Swagit video streaming for elections allows counties to adhere to the new bill requirements, without the hassle of interrupted video feeds. Swagit’s network is fully redundant, giving clients peace of mind and keeping with the Swagit motto, “Always Connected.”
With Swagit, counties are able to easily stream their election ballot feeds live to a dedicated page on their website, where the public can access the streams free of charge.
If you are a county elections administrator looking to solve your video livestream and recording requirements - request a Swagit elections video surveillance demo today.
