Voting company makes 'coercive' demand of Texas counties: Pay up or lose service before election

Source: Associated Press

Voting company makes ‘coercive’ demand of Texas counties: Pay up or lose service before election

BY NICHOLAS RICCARDI
Updated 4:16 PM EDT, April 5, 2024

A voting company owner on Friday acknowledged making a “coercive” demand of 32 Texas counties: Pay an additional surcharge for the software that runs their voting registration system, or lose it just before November’s elections.

John Medcalf of San Diego-based VOTEC said he had to request the counties pay a 35% surcharge because several agencies in multiple states, including some of the Texas counties, have been late to pay in the past and his company had trouble meeting payroll.

He characterized the charges as a cry for help to get enough money to avoid losing key employees just before November.

“It is coercive, and I regret that,” Medcalf said. “We’ve been able to get by 44 of 45 years without doing that.”

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Read more: https://apnews.com/article/election-texas-voter-registration-surcharge-vendor-67e8ed3ec2572b622a38e24fbde860d0