WilCo Elections Chief: There Are No Mail-In Drop-Off 'Boxes'

WILLIAMSON COUNTY, TX — Bottom line, and before anything else: There are no "drop boxes" in Texas — let alone Williamson County — at which mail-in ballots can be deposited. That's the assertion of the county's elections administrator following a voter's complaint who believed otherwise.

Patch received a tip from news partner ProPublica's special ElectionLand feature alerting to the voter's complaint. In a subsequent telephone interview, five-year county resident Margaret Morin, a transplant from Plano, told Patch she called the Williamson County Elections office inquiring about the locations of drop boxes where she could cast her ballot.

The elections office worker who answered the phone explained there were no such boxes, telling her the reason was such voting was ripe for voter fraud, Morin said. The resident was confused upon hearing this, particularly given a recent gubernatorial order limiting such drop-off sites to one per county — a decree suggesting the existence of such drop-off boxes.

"It took an unusual amount of effort to get information from her," Morin recalled. "She wasn't discourteous, just withholding. I do remember thinking at the time the woman at Williamson elections seemed to be very withholding of information, it was very monosyllabic. And then when she told me there were no drop boxes, I thought that was odd. We don't need to have voter suppression. That's just not right."

Reached by Patch on the telephone, Williamson County Elections Administrator Chris Davis said the woman was not misinformed. Despite numerous media reports describing such drop-off sites as "boxes," Davis said there is no such thing. When the governor issued his proclamation limiting drop-off locations to a single one per county, he referred to satellite elections offices apart from each region's elections headquarters.

Thus: The term "boxes" is a misnomer, and Davis made clear he eschews the word itself in communicating the process to voters.

"My statement is this: The devil's in the details," Davis said when asked to respond. " 'Drop box' means exactly that: An unmanned box, which is not allowed. What the governor allowed is a location to walk in their [voters'] ballots. This is already provided in the election code," he said, adding that voters using the option must fill in a signature roster and present identification. "What the governor did in his relatively recent proclamation was to extend the ability for voters to do that at a time before the election. There's no such thing as a drop box."

Related story: Texas Moves To Appeal Federal Ruling On Mail-In Voting

Gov. Greg Abbott issued an order limiting mail-in drop-off points to a single location per county on Oct. 1, sparking a frenzied back-and-forth legal fight between the mandate and civil rights groups opposing it. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Oct. 10 filed an emergency motion pending appeal after a federal judge barred officials from enforcing a gubernatorial order limiting the number of mail-in voting drop boxes to one per county.

Paxton's move followed a ruling the previous day by Austin federal judge Robert Pitman blocking the governor's order allowing for a single drop-off box per county for residents mailing in their ballots. In limiting drop-off boxes, Abbott cited a need to "strengthen voting safety in Texas."

Hours after Paxton's appeal, the attorney general celebrated his securing of a temporary stay from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. "I commend the Fifth Circuit for temporarily staying the district court's unlawful injunction while it considers our request for a full stay pending appeal. This ensures that the Governor's Proclamation remains in effect."

On Tuesday, the Texas Supreme Court ruled in favor of the governor's order limiting mail-in ballot drop box locations to one site per county, as CNN reported. The news network noted the decision largely affects the Houston and Austin areas. In making its ruling, the court concluded that Abbott's order "...provides Texas voters more ways to vote in the Nov. 3 election than does the Election Code" and that the decree doesn't "...disenfranchise anyone."

Along the way in subsequent reporting on the matter, multiple news outlets (Patch included) adopted the term "boxes" to describe the drop-off sites. CNN itself was guilty of the linguistic imprecision, headlining its story: "Texas Supreme Court Sides With Governor On Rule Requiring One Ballot Drop Box Per County."

Davis explained there was never such a thing, explaining how in Harris County there are 11 satellite offices (the elusive "drop boxes") at which voters could take their mail-in ballots. The court's ruling now compels voters to visit elections headquarters serving as single drop-off site, he explained.

"I don't mean to quibble, but I will never use the word 'box,' " Davis said, adding that he closely studied the governor's language in issuing his order and noticed Abbott didn't use the term either. "I've reviewed his precise language in that proclamation, and the word 'box' was never used. We're seeing confusion, and we're doing our best to rectify it. A drop-off location has to have staff and be manned," Davis added.

Despite the back-and-forth legal machinations sparked by the governor's order, Williamson County never had a dog in the fight, Davis suggested, given that the county has a single headquarters at 301 NE Inner Loop in the county seat of Georgetown, Texas, and would have been unaffected by the limits to a single drop-off location.

"I know it's been a tennis match with all the court cases and appeals, but it had no significant impact with our operations," Davis said. Yet the confusion has been impactful, and elections workers have been compelled to disabuse voters of the presence of "boxes" on a case-by-case basis.

The whole affair is part and parcel of a wild-and-wooly election cycle in Texas amid one of the most complex and divisive periods in recent history, Davis suggested. "I wouldn't wish an understanding of the elections office on anyone," he conceded. "It's a mess. I'd be hard-pressed to remember so many lawsuits and lack of fluidity. It's unprecedented."

His assertion is accurate. But at least we now know one thing: There are no drop-off boxes in Texas, let alone in Williamson County. The early voting period continues through Friday leading up to Election Day on Nov. 3.

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