Substandard Print Quality on Mail-in Ballots Causes Issues for Tarrant County (TX) Elections

The Tarrant County Elections Office has discovered an issue with about one-third of the mail-in ballots that have been returned.

According to Elections Administrator Heider Garcia, the state-authorized vendor did not print the barcodes on the ballots of a sufficient quality that it could be read by the scanning equipment.

Those rejected ballots must be separated, and the ballot board must follow a process outlined in the law for making a copy of the ballot that can be read.

Garcia explained that the process involves ballot board members of both major political parties being present to copy the votes to a blank ballot that can then be counted.

The ballot board is composed of about 80 citizens recommended by the political parties and approved by the elections board. They work in a secure location with limited access.

Republican Kelly Roberson serves as the chair of the ballot board, Democrat Kat Cano serves as the vice-chair, and Rene Perez represents the Libertarians.

Garcia assured the Tarrant County Commissioners on Tuesday that ballot integrity was his highest priority.

“Our goal here is to protect the integrity of the ballot and follow the process outlined in the law,” Garcia said.

“It is critical that you follow the law and get every one of those votes counted,” Commissioner Roy Brooks (D-Prct 1) emphasized.

“It is not the voters’ fault that we hired a vendor who did substandard work, and I demand on their behalf that they are counted,” he added.

Garcia assured Brooks that the process is outlined in the law, and while there are more ballots than usual having to be copied, this problem is not a new one, just of greater magnitude due to the number of mail-in ballots this year.

“The Tarrant County Republican Party’s primary concern in all matters of elections is the integrity of each ballot,” said Tarrant GOP Chairman Rick Barnes in a press statement. “We are working with the Tarrant County Elections Administration, the Ballot Board, and our candidates to guarantee representation of all Parties during the process. We are deploying poll watchers to protect the public interest. It is my firm belief that each individual ballot must be protected, regardless of that voter’s party affiliation.”

Approximately 85,000 mail-in ballots were sent out, county Judge Glen Whitley stated, and of those about 60,000 have been returned. He added that 1,950 are awaiting a decision on the signature verification.

Garcia assured voters who have not yet voted that they can still use mail-in ballots, but that if they are more comfortable, they may vote in person either early or on Election Day. Voters who have a mail-in ballot but wish to vote in person should take their mail-in ballot to the voting location to have it canceled.

Garcia also pointed out that one early voting location per week has had to close for a day or two due to coronavirus cases, but were re-opened quickly.

“We’ve taken staff from our office to get the sites running, then replace them,” he added.

The Tarrant County Democrat and Libertarian parties did not respond to a request for comment.

https://thetexan.news/substandard-print-quality-on-mail-in-ballots-causes-issues-for-tarrant-county-elections/

Disparities in Harris County (TX) Election Tallies Prompt Inquiry From State

The Texas Secretary of State’s Election Division is seeking clarification from Harris County on discrepancies in election reports submitted to the state.

Observers noted on Monday that as of October 25, Harris County’s published “Daily Record of Early Voting” reported that 1,090,445 voters had cast ballots either by mail or in-person, but the Secretary of State’s website, which reflects data submitted by the county to the state, reported 1,081,265 total votes cast, a difference of 9,180 votes. A third report, the Harris County Early Voting roster, had the total at 1,092,521.

The reports posted on the county’s website warn that the numbers are unofficial, but the significant discrepancy prompted a response from local officials and a query from the state election office.

The Secretary of State’s Office has confirmed to The Texan that on Monday, the Texas Elections Division sent Harris County a formal request for clarification on the submission of their early voting totals.

State Senator Paul Bettencourt (R-Houston), who previously served as the Harris County Voter Registrar, also called on Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins to provide an explanation for the discrepancies.

“Clerk Hollins owes an explanation to the public about which one of these numbers is correct,” said Bettencourt. “Hollins cannot have nearly a nearly 11,000 vote differential on different reports unexplained.”

Updated to include votes cast on Monday, October 26, the county’s daily record of early voting now reports that 1,149,047 have cast ballots. The state’s website now shows 1,151,399, reflecting a discrepancy of 2,352 votes.

Harris County commissioners appointed Hollins, who is the Texas Democratic Party vice-chairman of finance, to serve as the interim county clerk earlier this year after elected clerk Diane Trautman abruptly resigned last May.

This year the county has approved more than $27 million and accepted a private grant for an additional $9.6 million for the 2020 elections, and Hollins has pushed an ambitious agenda that elicited numerous lawsuits from citizens and state officials.

Although initiatives to send mail-in ballots or applications to all voters have been halted by state and federal courts, Hollins has succeeded in creating drive-through voting stations in select portions of the county, circumventing Texas law limiting curbside voting to those who are physically unable to enter the polling place without personal assistance or risk of injury.

Courts have also ruled against Hollins’ expansion of mail-ballot drop off sites and his efforts to block certified poll watchers.

Additional controversy surrounding Harris County elections has come from multiple allegations of ballot harvesting. Earlier this year the Secretary of State’s Office referred at least one complaint to the Texas attorney general for a full investigation, and last month private investigators provided to the Supreme Court of Texas sworn affidavits alleging a coordinated ballot-harvesting operation that involved a Biden campaign operative, state Senator Boris Miles (D-Houston), and Harris County Commissioner Rodney Ellis (D-Pct.1).

Most recently, certified poll-watcher Raymond Stewart provided another sworn affidavit and complaint to the Harris County district attorney alleging irregularities in early voting procedures.

Stewart, a former peace officer who was serving as a certified poll watcher, says he saw a large stack of Texas driver’s licenses left on a table between two sign-in stations. In his sworn statement, he says election workers coming in from drive-through polling stations would sometimes sort through the stack of licenses, choose one, scan it for voter check-in, and obtain a ticket to bring out to the drive-through voter.

Other irregularities identified by poll watchers include insecure transport of election documents. Harris County Republican Party Vice-Chair Kevin Fulton said that individuals without identification were picking up from polling sites unsecured boxes of surrendered mail ballots, mail ballot cancellations, provisional affidavits, statement of residency forms, and other “critical documents” and taking those materials without documenting chain of custody.

https://thetexan.news/disparities-in-harris-county-election-tallies-prompt-inquiry-from-state/