Jim Wells County approves switch to Vanguard voting machines, testing planned before May 26 runoff

The Jim Wells County Commissioners Court approved a transition to the Vanguard 1.0 voting system on Friday and directed elections staff to implement the new equipment in time for a May 26, 2026 Democratic/Republican primary runoff.

Deputy clerk Jula Martinez told the court the elections office has received the new machines and completed acceptance testing. “All the machines have been tested. All the machines are working well,” Martinez said, adding that the office finished acceptance testing about two days earlier and would begin scheduling mandatory training for poll judges now that testing is complete.

Martinez said the office will conduct logic‑and‑accuracy testing open to the public at 2 p.m. the day of the meeting at the elections office, 601 East Main Street, suite 140. She described one of the new machines as a Vanguard unit connected to a printer that produces ballots on demand and can produce provisional ballots that are not machine‑scannable, a feature she said helps prevent tabulation errors for provisional votes.

Commissioners asked whether personnel had been trained; Martinez said staff would begin planning and scheduling training now that acceptance testing is complete and emphasized training is mandatory for poll judges. The court made and seconded a motion to approve the transition and approved it by voice vote; no roll‑call tally was recorded in the transcript.

The transition is scheduled to begin with the May 26 runoff; the court did not record additional implementation deadlines or a vendor contract number during the meeting.