HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A myriad of mistakes and issues during the November 2022 Harris County election were highlighted in a 147-page report released by the Texas Secretary of State Thursday.
The preliminary findings of the state’s audit into last year’s election point to equipment and supply issues, insufficient training of election workers, incomplete paperwork and data issues.
“Discrepancies in election data lead to legitimate questions that, when unanswered, contribute to an erosion of public confidence in the integrity of election results,” the report reads.
Key findings include some 9,000 registered voters that weren’t reported to the state and almost 3,600 mail ballots sent out that were not reported to the state.
“While the inconsistencies may seem minor in comparison to the total number of registered voters and the total number of mail ballot voters, the inconsistencies make it difficult to validate election data and to ensure that eligible voters were able to cast a regular ballot for this election,” the report reads.
As for ballot paper supplies, the audit found Harris County did not comply with the Texas Election Code requirements allocation guidelines and instead relied on its own methodology, which was allegedly flawed.
“The documentation completed by election judges also indicates additional ballot paper allocations were made to at least 238 election day polling places, which is an indication that their alternative methodology was insufficient,” the report reads.
In addition, Harris County had no centralized way to track voter trends and monitor which locations would be running low on paper, because its system to monitor that had failed.
Election workers were supposed to document ballot paper usage, but 237 – about a third – returned an incomplete form or didn’t return it at all, according to the preliminary audit.
“Therefore, the audit team was unable to determine, based on the analysis of this form, exactly how many locations ran out of ballot paper or experienced a critically low supply on election day,” the report reads.
Although the state couldn’t determine how many locations ran out of ballot paper, it did identify locations where there were long gaps in voting. It found 38 locations, where voting was at a standstill for an hour or more. It could only definitively attribute a few of those gaps to paper shortages.
“The lack of voting activity can be attributed to equipment malfunctions, ballot paper shortages, and in some cases, low turnout at specific locations,” the audit reads.
The secretary of state did not say when it expects the final report to be completed, but it is still investigating potential voter fraud across the state, including 22 cases of potential double voting in Harris County and one potential dead voter in Harris County.
"Unfortunately, the Texas Secretary of State findings are not surprising, but damning nonetheless," said Harris County GOP Chairman Cindy Siegel in a statement. "This report proves that the way elections were run under an elections administrator was broken. I'm thankful the elections administrator's office has been eliminated. Now, instead of voters being beholden to an appointed, unelected bureaucrat who has failed at the job, they'll have hiring and firing power over the duly elected county clerk who will be running future elections.”
Since the secretary of state began its audit, many legislative and internal changes have been made to the way Harris County runs elections. The Harris County Elections Administrator position has been eliminated and elections are now run by County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth.
She said in a statement: “The Harris County Clerk’s Office is actively working with the Texas Secretary of State’s Office to find solutions to the issues cited in the audit of the November 2022 Election. Beginning September 1, I began reviewing and addressing every aspect of the election process and will continue to do so until procedures are in place that will ensure past issues are not repeated.
In my fifteen years of working for two Republican and two Democratic County Clerks, I was part of election teams that conducted successful elections. But the public should know that ‘successful’ isn’t the same thing as ‘flawless.’ The election office has never experienced a flawless election.
I look forward to working with the Secretary of State’s Office to ensure well-organized, transparent, and fair elections. There is plenty of work ahead for all of us, and a great commitment on my part to the voters of Harris County.”