President Trump is claiming Dallas County has “gone to all PAPER BALLOTS,” but local election actions tell a more limited story.
In a Truth Social post this morning, Trump celebrated what he called “great news,” saying Dallas County had switched entirely to paper ballots and urging other states to follow suit.
In reality, Dallas County has not adopted a countywide move to paper-only voting. Instead, the change stems from a September vote by the Dallas County Republican Party, which decided it will hand-count all Election Day ballots in the March GOP primary. The policy applies only to the Republican primary, only on Election Day, and does not change countywide procedures for Democratic voters, early voting locations, or general elections.
The Dallas Morning News reports that GOP officials pushed the hand-count plan after expressing distrust of voting machines, even though state and federal election experts say hand-counts are slower, less accurate, and more error-prone on a large scale. The Democratic Party and county election administrators are continuing with standard voting equipment for all other elections.
Dallas County Elections has made no announcement about adopting full paper-ballot voting with watermarks or eliminating machines, as Trump suggested in his post. The county will continue using state-certified voting systems that produce a paper audit trail, which is required under Texas law.
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