(Headline USA) The election administrator for Harris County, Texas, resigned this week after a chaotic primary election and the discovery that 10,000 mail-in ballots had not been counted.
Isabel Longoria, who has overseen elections in the state’s largest county since 2020, said her resignation would go into effect July 1. Members of both political parties had been demanding her resignation ever since the March 1 primary election, for grossly abandoning her oversight responsibilities.
“I think this date ensures that there is a presiding officer during the May and June elections and allows the election commission the time they need to find a replacement,” Longoria said during a commissioner’s court meeting this week.
“I remain committed to the office and its mission and hope to aid in defeating harmful rhetoric to ensure successful elections in the future,” she said.
Election officials in Harris County revealed last week that they had “mistakenly” neglected more than 10,000 mail-in ballots during the counting of the March 1 primary tally. The votes – 6,000 of which were for Democrats and the other 4,000 for Republicans – were tabulated but not counted towards the final result, they said.
“While the votes were scanned into our tabulation computer, they were not transferred and counted as a part of the unofficial final results as they should have been,” the Harris County Elections Office said in a statement.
The Harris County Republican Party announced shortly after the discovery that they would sue the county and Longoria for several alleged violations of the Texas election code.
“What we hope to come out of this is either Isabel Longoria and her management team resign or are fired, but more importantly for the court to actually step in and provide independent oversight over the election process,” Cindy Siegel, chairwoman of the Harris County GOP, said Monday, before Longoria resigned.
The uncounted ballots are not expected to affect the outcome of any Republican vs. Democrat contests, according to Harris County election officials, though two Democrat races are still up in the air because of the miscount.
