A new report suggests that a shortage of paper at several polling places in Harris County, Texas, was significantly more severe than initially believed.
KHOU-TV reported that 121 polling places did not initially receive enough paper to cover the voter turnout at their polling places, a number that had previously been estimated by the county’s Elections Administration Office as being between 46 and 68 polling places.
The county’s post-election review document admitted that its investigation “has not yet revealed how many of these [voting centers] had to turn voters away due to a paper shortage,”
Gov. Greg Abbott highlighted the severity of the finding on Twitter, writing, “Harris Co. election ballot paper shortage far bigger than initially estimated. It’s so big it may have altered the outcome of elections. It may necessitate new elections. It WILL necessitate new LAWS that prevent Harris Co. from ever doing this again.”
KHOU found that the county allocated enough paper for 600 voters at multiple polling places, and a review of its equipment projects in the county’s own post-election review showed that they expected a turnout of 600 voters at most polling places.
However, those projections were immensely understated, with some polling places recording as many as 400 more votes than projected.
A county representative said history was used as a guide to determine how much paper was allocated where; however, KHOU found that 52 polling places received less paper in 2022 than their 2018 turnout. Three centers had over 1,000 ballots cast at each location, which were allotted enough paper for 600 voters.
“It was worse than what we even knew. And there’s no excuse, in my mind,” county Republican Chair Cindy Siegel said. “I mean, it’s mismanagement at best. We as Harris County voters deserve better.”
The county’s post-election review document noted that 160 technicians were dispatched to address potential issues that might erupt across the county.
The report said that the county’s “call logs reflect that the Help Desk received calls from 46 VCs (5.9%) requesting additional paper on Election Day. This does not indicate that these VCs ran out of paper and had turn voters away as a result – only that they required additional paper at some point on Election Day.”
It added that the county’s analysis of the problem was “largely inconclusive” due to “conflicting reports on whether the VC actually ran out of paper, and that many responses did not explain whether the VCs had to turn voters away.”
Sixty-one sites received additional paper deliveries on Election Day, but some officials contacted after the election said the sites they were responsible for never ran out of paper.
“I’ve never heard anything so basic as running [out] of ballots,” Election Presiding Judge Terry Wheeler said.
Scroll down to leave a comment and share your thoughts.
