Voters entered the library at the Audelia Road branch in Dallas on Friday, the day of early voting in the Texas primary.
Several polling stations across the state were unable to open Tuesday in the number one election due to a lack of election staff, prompting some to open later that day and others finally.
Locations in Dallas, Tarrant and Hidalgo counties reported that they did not have a Republican or Democratic Party election judge. These members are appointed through their respective parties to oversee the polling stations.
If one of the party judges is absent, the polling station works. In fact, under state law, no polling station can serve a single party, Tarrant County Election Administrator Heider Garcia told the Texas Tribune.
Garcia said it was difficult to recruit election staff this year, but he couldn’t say exactly why.
“Honestly, I can’t tell you why other people aren’t motivated,” he said. to succeed in the other people who said no.
During last year’s legislative sessions, Texas lawmakers created new consequences for election staff accused of interfering with the activities of election observers. The new regulations were enacted after many Republican officials echoed former President Donald Trump’s false accusations about widespread voter fraud in 2020. presidential elections, despite lack of evidence. Election officials and voting rights teams warned lawmakers that the new restrictions may have a potential deterrent effect on election staff.
James Slattery, lead attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project, pointed to the new election laws, sometimes referred to as Senate Bill 1, as an imaginable deterrent that prevented election judges from participating in Tuesday’s election.
“While we don’t know all the reasons there were shortages today, we do know that spending like Senate Bill 1, which imposed new and difficult criminal consequences on election officials and severe new restrictions on what they can do in the electoral college — only serve to deter election officials from the vital jobs they do to manage our elections and protect our right to vote. ” Slattery said at a virtual news conference Tuesday.
Ten polling stations in Dallas were absolutely closed due to shortages, according to the Dallas County election website. There were 438 polling stations open Tuesday afternoon. Dallas County election officials may not be reached for further comment.
Kathleen Thompson, communications director for the Dallas County Democratic Party, said some election judges told her they were involved in the new voting restrictions and harsh consequences enacted last year. The Dallas County Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment.
The Brennan Center for Justice, which sued Texas over its election restrictions, criticized last year the effects such legislation could have on poll workers.
“These new sanctions are an example of a troubling new trend in state legislation targeting election officials and election officials,” the outlet warned in September. “Laws like those put salt on the wounds of poll workers, many of whom faced threats and intimidation last year for simply doing their jobs. “
Electoral judges preside over the polling stations to ensure that the electoral procedure is administered fairly and legally. Because the parties appoint their own election judges and staff, Garcia said Tarrant County election officials may not directly indicate the number of undercover party election judges. for Tuesday’s primary.
“We are at their mercy,” he said.
More than a dozen polling stations in Tarrant County were closed intermittently for two hours Tuesday morning because one of the parties did not have a county election approval trial at present, Garcia said. There were about 10 or 11 polling stations with Democratic vacations and two or 3 with Republican vacations this morning, he said.
Tarrant County Republican and Democratic party officials may not be reached for comment.
Garcia said Tarrant County was able to reassign personnel to operate the sites.
To prevent polling stations from being completely closed, Garcia used an emergency authorization to allow party-appointed electoral judges to operate the opposing party’s voting machines. Eight of the Democratic vacancies were filled by Republican staff who volunteered to help, he said. A Democratic staff member did the same at a Republican polling place, but Garcia said he believed the void was later filled through a Republican.
Garcia said some other people might be wary of opposing party members running another party’s machines, but said the county’s only option is to keep them operational.
“Instead of shutting down and depriving a lot of people of their rights, we said we had to find a way to reach them,” Garcia said.
The places with vacancies were the ones that saw a low turnout for the party with the vacancy, he said. on Tuesday, he said.
The same thing happened in Dallas County, Thompson said, with Democrats filling Republicans at 25 sites to keep them open.
Garcia said Tarrant County will have to investigate why there is a lack of election judges at some polling stations. Overall, recruiting election judges and election officials has been more complicated this year, he said. But an investigation into why this happened will have to wait until after the election. For now, his team is in “firefighting mode,” he said.
Hidalgo County also closed polling stations due to understaffing. County Judge Richard Cortez, a Democrat running for re-election, blamed the Democratic Party and called the shutdowns caused by a lack of election judges “very disappointing,” according to The Monitor. , the McAllen-based newspaper.
Hidalgo County Democratic President Patrick Eronini said the shortage was due to a lack of exercise time using the new voting machines and the fact that some members have died from COVID-19. Ten election judges resigned because they were not comfortable with the new machines, he said.
“To all those who are quick to criticize, I ask you to volunteer for the upcoming elections,” Eronini said on Facebook. “I was forced to close some sites, but there were cases beyond our control. “
Eronini said in a phone interview with the Tribune that he believes the new election restrictions have also scared other people away from handling this election cycle.
“There are so many rumors about what can happen if you make a mistake,” he said. “Republicans worry people a lot. “
The chairman of the Hidalgo County Republican Party did not respond to requests for comment.
Other counties also reported a shortage of elections, but did not have to close polling stations. Harris, Travis, Fort Bend, Cameron and El Paso counties said polling stations were not closed Tuesday. Harris County found some minor technical issues with the machines at two locations, but those were temporarily resolved.
“We had several election officials who didn’t show up this morning, but all of our sites are staffed and open,” R said. Wise, El Paso County Election Manager.
Cameron County Election Administrator Remi Garza said some employees didn’t show up, but his workplace was able to locate staff to keep all polling stations running by 7 a. m. on Tuesday.
“As with all elections, we had some employees who didn’t show up, but we had to locate more staff or move staff from one polling place to another,” he said.
Garza also said there were court cases about waiting times on campuses.
“We had issues with other people who had to wait to access student drop-off and drop-off times on school campuses, but we worked with districts to see if we could identify them and allow them access,” Garza said. “That’s the only complaint we’ve had about wait times. “
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