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Harris County’s controversial handling of the ballot counts in March's Texas primary elections is the subject of a draft of a new 83-page independent report, according to Houston CBS affiliate KHOU.
According to the document, KHOU reported, the county’s elections office was slow in tallying votes following the March 2 races because of underfunding and understaffing.
The Republican and Democratic members of the Harris County Commissioners Court differed in reactions to the report, per the station.
KHOU reported that Isabel Longoria, the former elections administrator for the county, explained in the report that a few elections workers became ill with exhaustion and some were taken to the hospital.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, a Democrat, appointed Longoria to the post during the 2020 presidential election.
The debacle that unfolded with the elections office after the polls closed eventually led to Longoria’s resignation, which was effective on Friday, July 1.
Commissioners Rodney Ellis and Adrian Garcia, who are Democrats, accepted the report’s findings, pushing for more funding, KHOU reported.
“Democracies are expensive, Ellis, who represents Harris County Precinct 1, said, per the station.
Republican commissioners Tom Ramsey and R. Jack Cagle; however, argued that the county clerk and the county tax assessor collector – both of whom are also elected – should oversee the elections.
“We went from elected to selected, someone not accountable directly to the voters. The voters should be electing who runs the elections, not the Court or the Elections Commission,” Ramsey, who represents Harris County Precinct 3, said in a statement obtained by KHOU.
The station reported that neither Hidalgo nor her office provided a response to the report.
The draft was released after Harris County tabbed Clifford Tatum to succeed Longoria.
According to KHOU, the commissioners court will receive the official report next month.