Harris County elections focus of House committee probe on paper ballots

HOUSTON — As new guidelines on elections in Texas take impact, counties are certain to have new points assembly a brand new rule requiring outcomes inside 24 hours, the Harris County elections administrator on Wednesday informed a home committee.

“This paper poll system we’re shifting to, I believe has paper challenges,” Isabel Longoria informed the Texas Home Committee on Elections. “We’ve got to decide on accuracy over velocity.”

The feedback got here throughout a listening to on the reporting of election outcomes.

Longoria and Harris County Elections Administrator Beth Stevens answered questions from committee members.

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“These paper ballots to document them appropriately, to get them again into our central warehouse,” Longoria stated in response to a query about well timed reporting. “That takes time to do correctly, to document that chain of custody after which to document the central rely committee, Democrats and Republicans each, replicating these ballots and ensuring that the intent of the voters recorded appropriately.”

Harris County failed to fulfill a 24-hour deadline through the counting course of for the March 1 main elections, together with a revelation that almost 10,000 votes weren’t counted through the preliminary course of.

Directors informed state representatives on Thursday the problem was a miscommunication.

“They weren’t lacking,” stated Harris County Elections Administrator Beth Stevens. “They have been scanned in, on digital camera, they’re bodily within the room. They didn’t get transferred into the opposite laptop system.”

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Stevens informed committee members that the poll information was not recorded on a second laptop system by a workers member. Staffers discovered the error two days after main voting was over.

“The mail ballots have been learn into considered one of our laptop programs,” Stevens stated. “They need to be transferred into one other laptop system. The workers member thought that they need to be transferred slightly later in time.”

No formal motion was scheduled to be taken by the committee, however suggestions might come from proceedings that could be used to make adjustments to the brand new election legal guidelines.

Earlier this 12 months, Longoria introduced she is resigning her place on July 1.

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