HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — From hiccups at the polls to shake-ups about who’s in charge, Harris County has been on a two-year roller coaster ride when it comes to elections.
In November 2022, Election Day became a debacle when some voting centers actually ran out of paper.
“How does that happen? How do you run out of paper,” one voter who was turned away said.
“That’s complete, complete incompetence,” an election judge said.
The paper ballot shortage put then-Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum in the hot seat at the time. When asked how could his office fumble something that was seemingly so simple, Tatum replied, “There wasn’t a fumble.”
He repeatedly dodged questions from KHOU 11 Investigates about who dropped the ball, but Tatum could not escape Republican lawmakers.
“That alone should have been (Tatum’s) dismissal notice,” said state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican.
State legislators passed a new law eliminating the elections administrator position. Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo called it a “bold-faced abuse of power” and county Democrats sued to block the new law. But the Texas Supreme Court denied that effort and election duties reverted back to the Harris County Clerk’s Office.
“It’s not our first rodeo,” Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth said.
But that wasn’t the only legal challenge. Nearly two dozen Republican candidates in Harris County sued to throw out results in their races. One of those cases is still pending while the others did not prevail.
Election issues also turned from civil to criminal in nature. A former Harris County election worker responsible for paper ballot supplies was indicted on corruption charges. Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg said the employee secretly worked two jobs during the election and falsified time sheets along the way.
“I do want to say the investigation found no evidence of intent to impact the outcome of the election for either party,” Ogg said.
Ultimately, the Texas Secretary of State released a Comprehensive Election Audit Report.
The office cited multiple failures over several recent elections, including equipment and supply issues and inadequate training for election workers. Based on the audit, Secretary of State Jane Nelson said an “enhanced presence by the Secretary’s office is necessary for the November 2024 election.”
That involves assigning state inspectors to Harris County to perform checks on election records, chain-of-custody and the handling and counting of ballots.