HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A Harris County judge granted voters an extra hour to vote on election night, but the Texas Supreme Court said those votes wouldn't count.
So, what does that mean for voters who got in line after the 7 p.m. cutoff?
KHOU 11 election law analyst Cris Feldman shed some light on the Supreme Court ruling and what's next.
"This whole situation is, is temporary," Feldman said. "At the end of the day, people that got in line after 7 p.m. cast provisional ballots, they were segregated or set to the side, to begin with. And it's up to the Early Voting Ballot Board to decide how to handle those provisional ballots."
That board consists of people from both parties that are appointed by county chairs, Feldman said.
"And it works through issues regarding voter eligibility. Let's say you show up to vote and you just moved and you might have a different street address and you're not properly in the system with the elections administrator, you would cast a provisional ballot, and the ballot is put to the side in a special envelope. And that's pursuant to federal law," Feldman said. "Same situation here -- people that showed up after 7 p.m. and were in line cast provisional ballots of procedures already in place, whenever there's a question as to whether or not a vote should be counted."
It's unlikely that there will be any legal action taken before that board meets.
"The critical thing is when the board meets, and then whether or not there's any legal action depends completely upon whether or not any candidate ... that was in the election affected by the casting of these provisional ballots," Feldman said. "So that could be pretty much any candidate who chooses to litigate the issue because they feel the counting or not counting of those provisional ballots would somehow change the result in their election."
It's unclear when it will actually happen, but the Early Voting Ballot Board could meet any time between Friday and Nov. 14.