Almost two months after an election day meltdown in Harris County, in which hundreds or even thousands of voters may have been turned away without being able to vote, there is still no official word on what actually went wrong.
It’s alleged that at least 20 different polling locations ran out of ballot paper and some locations did not open at the time required by law, and because of that, thousands of voters never got to cast a ballot.
Now, KPRC 2 is asking top county officials what needs to happen to keep this from ever happening again.
A brand new, 54-page report from Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum, says it’s “inconclusive” that any of the county’s 782 polling locations actually turned voters away on election day due to a shortage of paper ballots.
There are now several investigations, including a criminal investigation by the district attorney, that more than 20 polling locations did not have enough paper to print ballots, that several polling spots opened later than required by law, and that thousands of people were unable to vote because of those problems and so were disenfranchised.
On Monday, as newly elected Harris County officials were sworn into office, KPRC 2 Investigates asked some of the county’s top leaders about the Election Day meltdown and what can be done to keep it from ever happening again.
“Well, I look forward to meeting with all the key stakeholders in the administration to dive into this because I believe deeply we need elections that are free, fair, efficient, and run smoothly,” said newly-elected, Harris County Precinct 4 Commissioner Lesley Briones.
KPRC2 Investigates asked Commissioner Adrian Garcia the same questions about what went wrong on election day and what should be done to prevent it from happening again.
“Commissioner Garcia, we are not talking about something complex here. We are talking about polling places running out of paper. My wife used to run elections in both San Antonio and Las Vegas and they always had plenty of paper. They prepare and plan for that way in advance,” said reporter Bill Spencer to Garcia. “How do you not have enough paper for ballots when you go into a major election?”
“Well, again, the Election Administrator is looking into how all of that was handled. So, we just need to get all of the information together and work through the details,” Commissioner Garcia said.
Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg has opened a criminal investigation into this whole issue and is working with the Texas Rangers.