The Potter County Republican Party plans to conduct its own election during the Texas primary on March 1, independent of the county election administration. People voting in Republican races on Election Day will cast hand-marked ballots that will be hand counted, which the party believes to be more secure. Experts say the move will introduce a higher risk of fraud, confuse voters, and likely result in legal challenges.

“This introduces a lot of potential mistakes and it also introduces opportunities for fraud,” said Christina Adkins, the legal director of the Texas Secretary of State’s elections division. “The candidates on this ballot really need to think about whether this is how they want their election run.”…

The decision comes after an Arizona congressional candidate who participated in the Jan. 6 insurrection gave an “election integrity symposium” to the party in October. The presenter, Jeff Zink, is a candidate for Arizona’s 7th Congressional District who falsely says that the Cyber Ninjas’ investigation report released in September hid rampant fraud about Maricopa County’s 2020 election results. Around 50 people attended the event and listened to Zink expound on the benefits of hand counting.