---
title: "SB2216: Relating to security of election system equipment."
bill_number: SB2216
session: Regular Session
status: Enacted
filed_date: 2025-03-11
signed_date: 2025-06-20
effective_date: 2025-09-01
primary_author: Bryan Hughes (R)
subjects:
  - Elections
  - Elections--Administration
  - Elections--General
  - Elections--Election Officers
  - Elections--Voting Systems
  - Electronic Information Systems
  - ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT
compliance_urgency: moderate
cost_impact: low
enforcing_agencies:
  - General Custodian of Election Records (County Clerk/Elections Administrator)
  - Texas Secretary of State (Elections Division)
canonical_url: "https://jdkey.com/texas-89th-legislature/sb2216-89th-regular"
source: JD Key Consulting - Texas Legislative Intelligence
---

# SB2216: Relating to security of election system equipment.

**Status:** Signed into Law (June 20, 2025)
**Effective Date:** 2025-09-01

## Summary

## Executive Summary
SB2216 eliminates "honor system" security for election equipment, mandating strict physical storage in "locked rooms" and serialized chain-of-custody logging effective September 1, 2025. This legislation shifts liability to vendors, logistics providers, and election administrators who fail to document the specific identity, time, and purpose of every seal breach on voting machinery.

## Implementation Timeline
- **Effective Date:** September 1, 2025.
- **Compliance Deadline:** Immediate for any election **ordered** on or after September 1, 2025. You must have "locked room" storage and inventory protocols in place *before* the first election order is signed in Q3 2025.
- **Agency Rulemaking:** The Secretary of State is expected to issue Election Advisories defining "locked room" specifications and seal standards. Monitor the Texas Register closely between May and August 2025 for these technical specifications.

## Operational Changes Required

### Contracts
- **Master Services Agreements (MSAs):** Vendors must amend agreements to explicitly define which party (Vendor or Client) provides the compliant "locked room."
- **Liability Clauses:** Update indemnification sections. If a poll worker cuts a seal without recording the statutory "purpose," the vendor must be indemnified against the resulting chain-of-custody breach.
- **Third-Party Logistics:** Warehousing contracts must specify that equipment cannot sit on an open floor; it must be in a partitioned, locked enclosure.

### Hiring/Training
- **Technician Training:** Field staff must be retrained. They can no longer simply cut and replace seals during maintenance. They must now execute a "Seal Break" affidavit for every instance of access.
- **Audit Staff:** Designate a specific Compliance Officer to verify seal logs against physical inventory prior to deployment.

### Reporting & Record-Keeping
- **Inventory Software:** Update asset management systems immediately to add a mandatory field for "Designated Polling Location" for all electronic storage media.
- **Chain of Custody Logs:** Implement a **Voting System Access Log** that captures four statutory data points: (1) Seal ID, (2) Person removing seal, (3) Time/Date, and (4) Statutory Purpose (e.g., maintenance, testing).

### Fees & Costs
- **Billable Hours:** Adjust service pricing to account for increased administrative time required to log and witness seal changes.
- **Hardware Costs:** Budget for high-volume procurement of serialized, tamper-evident seals.
- **Facility Costs:** Potential capital expenditure if current warehousing requires partition construction to meet the "locked room" standard.

## Strategic Ambiguities
- **"Locked Room" Definition:** The statute does not define the physical construction of the room. It is unclear if a wire cage within a warehouse suffices or if a solid-walled room is required. Adopt a conservative standard (solid walls, controlled access) until SOS guidance is released.
- **"Electronic Information Storage Media":** The scope is broad. While it clearly applies to USBs and memory cards, it may extend to internal hard drives. Prepare to seal access ports to internal components.

## Action Plan
- **Audit Facilities:** Conduct a physical walkthrough of all storage sites to verify "locked room" capacity by July 1, 2025.
- **Update Inventory Logic:** Modify database schemas to link media serial numbers to specific polling locations.
- **Draft the Log:** Create the *Voting System Access Log* template and integrate it into technician tablets/clipboards.
- **Procure Seals:** Source serialized, tamper-evident seals now to avoid supply chain bottlenecks in Q3 2025.
- **Notify Clients:** Send a formal notice to Political Subdivision clients regarding their new storage obligations under SB2216.

## Compliance Badges
- **Urgency:** **Moderate** (Action required before Q3 2025)
- **Cost Impact:** **Low** (Procedural rather than capital intensive)
- **Primary Enforcing Agency:** **Texas Secretary of State (Elections Division)** & Local County Clerks

## Business Impact

- **Compliance Urgency:** Moderate
- **Cost Impact:** Low
- **Enforcing Agencies:** General Custodian of Election Records (County Clerk/Elections Administrator), Texas Secretary of State (Elections Division)

## Key Compliance Information

### Reporting Requirements

- **Who:** General Custodian of Election Records
  - **What:** Inventory of Electronic Information Storage Media
  - **When:** Prior to deployment for elections ordered on/after Sept 1, 2025
  - **To Whom:** Internal Records (Must now explicitly list the polling location for each media unit)
- **Who:** General Custodian of Election Records
  - **What:** Security Seal Documentation Procedure
  - **When:** Continuous (Upon placement or removal of seals)
  - **To Whom:** Internal Records (Must document specific seal IDs, identity of person removing seal, and purpose of access)

## Official Analysis

**BILL ANALYSIS**





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Senate
  Research Center

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S.B. 2216

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89R14795
  MPF-D

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By: Hughes

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State Affairs

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4/3/2025

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As Filed

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**AUTHOR'S / SPONSOR'S STATEMENT OF
INTENT**



S.B. 2216
aims to strengthen the physical security and oversight of election equipment in
Texas, ensuring that access is controlled, tracked, and documented to safeguard
the integrity of the voting process.



Key
Provisions:



- Maintenance and Storage of Equipment
     (Section 123.034):




� Equipment used in the operation of voting equipment must be
stored in a locked room to restrict access.



����� 2.
Security Measures for Voting System Equipment (Section 129.051):



� The inventory of electronic information storage media must now
include details about the polling location where the media will be used.

� The general custodian of election records is required to place
security seals on each unit of voting system equipment to prevent unauthorized
access.



A procedure
must be established to document: (1) the specific seals placed on each unit,
and (2) any instances where seals are removed, including the identity of the
individual removing them and the purpose for accessing the equipment.



As proposed,
S.B. 2216 amends current law relating to security
of election system equipment.

** **

**RULEMAKING AUTHORITY**



This bill does not
expressly grant any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer,
institution, or agency.



**SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS**



SECTION 1. Amends Section 123.034, Election
Code, to require that equipment used in the operation of a voting system be
stored in a locked room and to make a nonsubstantive change.



SECTION 2. Amends Section 129.051, Election
Code, by adding Subsections (a-1), (h), and (i), as follows:



(a-1) Requires that the inventory of electronic information storage
media maintained under Subsection (a) (relating to requiring the general
custodian of election records to create and maintain an inventory of all
electronic information storage media) include information on the polling
location at which the storage media will be used.



(h) Requires the general custodian of election records to place
security seals on each unit of voting system equipment to prevent unauthorized
access to the equipment.



(i) Requires the general custodian of election records to create a
procedure for documenting which specific seals are placed on each unit of
voting system equipment and any instances where the seals are removed,
including the identity of the individual who removed the seals and accessed the
voting system equipment and the purpose for accessing the equipment.



SECTION 3. Makes application of this Act
prospective.



SECTION 4. Effective date: September 1,
2025.

## Topics

- Elections
- Elections--Administration
- Elections--General
- Elections--Election Officers
- Elections--Voting Systems
- Electronic Information Systems
- ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT

## Author

**Primary Author:** Bryan Hughes (R)

## Source Links

- [Full Interactive Analysis](https://jdkey.com/texas-89th-legislature/sb2216-89th-regular)
- [Texas Legislature Online](https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB2216)
- [LegiScan](https://legiscan.com/TX/bill/SB2216/2025)

---

*Analysis provided by [JD Key Consulting](https://jdkey.com). For questions about Texas legislative strategy, contact us at [jdkey.com/contact](https://jdkey.com/contact).*