Defense of Texas elections is John Scott’s legacy as secretary of state

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This protection is made potential by way of Votebeat, a nonpartisan news group protecting native election administration and voting entry. The article is out there for reprint beneath the phrases of Votebeat’s republishing policy.

When John Scott was appointed Texas secretary of state final 12 months, he determined from the start he needed to do issues in another way: He would focus his efforts on elections — maybe the workplace’s most tedious and contentious accountability. Until Scott’s tenure, the secretary’s position as chief elections officer had traditionally come second to different elements of the job, such as financial improvement or the state’s relationship with neighboring Mexico.

Now that he’s introduced his end-of-year resignation, that shift is perhaps essentially the most lasting piece of his legacy.

“I think that is the future,” Scott advised Votebeat. “I don’t know that there will ever be a moment left in our lifetime where we go back to the role of the Texas secretary of state with a top priority other than elections.”

Over the previous 12 months, Scott made time to satisfy one on one with greater than a dozen county elections officers — from all of Texas’ main counties, together with Potter, Parker and El Paso counties. It was essential, he mentioned. When he began, he had solely a fleeting understanding of elections, pulled largely from his expertise arguing election instances as deputy lawyer normal from 2012 to 2015. Quickly, Scott realized that their work begins a number of months forward of Election Day. He noticed the quantity of hours it takes to coach ballot employees and to handle difficult logistical issues such as ordering the correct amount of poll paper for each election, discovering locations to retailer it after which distributing it.

And when critics questioned him personally, or questioned the credibility of those self same elections officers he’d gotten to know effectively, he publicly defended them and the protection and accuracy of the election course of.

In Texas, the secretary of state place is comparatively weak and administrative — appointed fairly than elected, accountable for an odd assortment of priorities and with little energy to make coverage. But the secretary of state has a voice that may resonate with the general public, and Scott wasn’t afraid to make use of it.

“We are following state law,” Scott advised a dozen or so principally aged election fraud activists who disrupted a public test of voting machines in a Central Texas county in September.

“No, you’re not,” they shouted again at him almost in unison, insisting, “we oughta get rid of the machines,” and “In France they do 100% paper.”

“I don’t know enough about France, but let me tell you this: I love how our state does this, and the people who I work with on a daily basis and the workers I’ve met throughout the state all have one goal, and that is to have safe and secure elections,” Scott firmly advised the gang.

Texas elections directors say he’s the primary secretary of state in years they’ve seen take this type of strategy to the position, and his engagement has made a distinction.

The stakes of the midterm elections made Scott’s willingness to defend native officers all of the extra helpful, mentioned Chris Davis, Williamson County elections administrator.

“He came in at the right time,” mentioned Davis. “He had our back.”

Jennifer Doinoff, Hays County elections administrator, described Scott as “the authority of the elections office. What he does and says does carry a lot of weight with a lot of people.”

“Secretary Scott came at a time when we were experiencing this extreme scrutiny and distrust in the system. He did a great job of showing the public why they can have confidence,” Doinoff mentioned. “We’re able to keep these [election fraud activist] groups at a minimum because of his engagement with the public.”

Scott took workplace at a time when relationships between native elections directors and state lawmakers had been at a low level — the Legislature had simply handed Senate Bill 1, an overhaul of state election regulation, which some county officers noticed as pointless and dangerous. Remi Garza, Cameron County elections administrator, mentioned Scott opened new “lines of communication” that will not have resulted in laws however helped patch the connection.

“He had an authoritative voice that was respected by legislators and election officials,” Garza mentioned.

As election conspiracy theorists proceed to scrutinize elections and the individuals who run them proceed to be beneath a microscope, election officers mentioned it should proceed to be crucial to have a secretary of state keen to be taught firsthand how elections work, help the work election officers do and be taught the completely different wants of every county.

Scott’s final day is set for Dec. 31. Then, he says, he’ll return to non-public company regulation follow in Fort Worth, which is what he had been doing simply earlier than Gov. Greg Abbott appointed him to the statewide place.

During that interval, Scott briefly represented former President Donald Trump in a lawsuit difficult the 2020 election ends in Pennsylvania. But he advised Votebeat he doubts he’ll tackle such election challenges sooner or later. “I can’t imagine a scenario in which I get involved in election law again. I’ve had a lifetime worth of election law packed into 14 months,” Scott wrote in a textual content message.

While secretary of state, Scott presided over 5 statewide elections and labored on a voter training marketing campaign that includes movies dubbed “SOS 101.” In the movies, Scott defined steps within the election course of such as methods to register to vote and methods to vote by mail in Texas.

But Scott advised Votebeat that when he agreed to take the job, his plan was by no means to make it to affirmation by the Texas Senate, which has been in recess since earlier than his appointment. His purpose as a substitute, he mentioned, was to finish the audit of the 2020 normal election, which included the state’s 4 largest counties.

“The mission was to get the audit done, to create the forensic audit division, to fight fiction with fact and get through this election,” Scott mentioned. “And I think those things have been accomplished.”

The first phase of the audit, launched final 12 months, discovered no proof of widespread fraud that would have affected the election end result. The remaining outcomes of the audit are anticipated to be launched earlier than his final day in workplace.

A day after Scott introduced his resignation, Abbott announced plans to appoint retiring state Sen. Jane Nelson to the position. Although Nelson hasn’t been concerned in state elections, elections directors say they’re wanting ahead to having her step into the position. Nelson, a North Texas Republican, has 30 years of experience within the Legislature and was the primary girl to guide the state’s finance committee.

“Quite a few election bills have been prefiled, and I think someone like her, who has been in the Senate and understands the finance side of things and how legislation works, will be beneficial to elections,” mentioned Trudy Hancock, Brazos County elections administrator and president of the Texas Association of Elections Administrators.

Scott mentioned he hopes shut contact with elections directors will proceed to be a precedence for Nelson. This has develop into an more and more widespread greatest follow amongst secretaries of state throughout the nation over the previous a number of years.

“And it works both ways. When there’s an issue in a location, being able to reach out to those [election officials] and know that you’re getting a straight answer from them,” Scott mentioned.

In the previous few years, as scrutiny of elections has elevated, the position of elections directors has modified and develop into extra public-facing. That’s additionally true for the position of the secretary of state in Texas, Scott mentioned.

He mentioned he did his greatest to reply questions from critics and clarify how the method works. Nonetheless, he wasn’t spared from the death threats and harassment elections officers have confronted since 2020.

Nelson, together with her a long time of expertise as a politician in Texas, is uniquely outfitted and positioned to answer any type of criticism that will come her manner, Scott mentioned, and to extra simply navigate the Legislature.

“She has the kind of a history and experience that will keep [legislators] from questioning what she says,” Scott mentioned. “And so when she says something, they will believe it, and I think that’s going to be what’s really great about this legislative session and our next Secretary of State.”

Natalia Contreras is a reporter with Votebeat in partnership with the Texas Tribune. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org.

Disclosure: The Texas Secretary of State has been a monetary supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news group that is funded partially by donations from members, foundations and company sponsors. Financial supporters play no position within the Tribune’s journalism. Find a whole list of them here.