(John Ransom, Headline USA) Videos from a polling station shared on Twitter show Democrats in Houston denying GOP voters their right to vote in the Texas primary because election judges didn’t show up, while Democrats continued to vote, in what one election administrator said broke the law.
“If one of the parties’ judges is absent, the polling site cannot operate. That’s because by state law, no polling site can serve only one party,” Tarrant County elections administrator Heider Garcia, told the Texas Tribune.
Some polling places shut down because of staffing shortages, while other used volunteers to serve as election judges so that everyone could vote, according to the Tribune.
The election went off with few signs of trouble, reported Reuters, but several Republicans complained that Democrat officials at a polling station wouldn’t help them find election officials when the election judges for the GOP didn’t show up. Instead, the GOP voters claimed the Democrats harassed them and threatened them, saying only Democrats were allowed to vote there.
One video shows an election worker telling a voter that the polling station is closed, because he doesn’t have staff, but then claiming Democrat voters are allowed to vote.
UNBELIEVABLE! This just happened. @abc13houston @FOX26Houston @KHOUmelissa @NBCInvestigates #HOUNEWS @GovAbbott @TerryCanales40 @RepWalle @AdrianGarciaHTX @HarrisCountyRP @TexasGOP #VoteThemAllOut2022 #Texas #HarrisCounty #Houston #VotingRights #Democrats #Republicans pic.twitter.com/XJyrR9xBh9
— The Claims Investigator ® (@SIUIntelligence) March 1, 2022
Another election official wearing a mask is non-responsive to a request by a voter for a phone number so that they can call and get the staffing issue resolved.
He did not want to help me. He said that he voted Democratic Party. I called @SheriffEd_HCSO and he was kind enough to provide me with the telephone number to call for this election issue. Thank you Sheriff. @abc13houston #Hounews @HarrisCountyRP #Texas #HarrisCounty #Houston pic.twitter.com/b3xVcvfonP
— The Claims Investigator ® (@SIUIntelligence) March 1, 2022
The League of Women Voters hosts a website that election officials ought be aware of that has several different numbers where you can report problems with voting.
“We decided to leave. As I was driving away, a judge from the Democrats came outside and further threatened us by taking pictures of my vehicle license plates,” tweeted one GOP voter, sharing a photo of the judge. “Intimidation and suppression of my vote to say the least,”
An investigation found that there is an agreement that the parties will help in places where there aren’t sufficient election officials, but in this case “in some instances individual judges refused to do so,” reported the local Fox affiliate.
Harris County, where the irregularities took place, announced that there will be a 24-hour delay in counting the votes, according to Fox.
