HOUSTON – It is a two-part process to vote in Harris County -- on one machine you vote, on the other machine, you scan your ballot.
It was the second part of that process that caused a few problems on the Texas General and Special Election Day.
“The scanner went down ... so people had the choice to either put it in the box to be counted later and a lot of people said, ‘no, I want my ballot secured,’” said Charlotte Lampe, an election judge in Cypress.
For about 40 years, Lampe said she has been on the job, working Election Day. This year, she is the election judge at Hamilton Elementary in Cypress.
“We spoiled some ballots, took them off the rolls, and said if you want to do that you can go to another location that’s five minutes away,” Lampe said.
With that problem, seven of the 14 voting machines were inoperable for several hours. All of the problems were fixed by lunch time, but Lampe said it took multiple technicians to get everything in working order.
Less severe, but similar problems were reported earlier in the day at River Oaks Elementary School, River Oaks Community Center, St. Martin Episcopal Church, and Frostwood Elementary.
The Harris County Clerk’s Office reported that 93% of polling locations opened on time at 7 a.m.