A Texas county is under investigation after some polling places ran out of ballot paper or stayed open late during the midterm elections.
Harris County, Texas District Attorney Kim Ogg this week requested assistance from the Texas Rangers to investigate claims of criminal conduct in the county.
“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy,” Ogg said in a statement. “When we get credible complaints of election irregularities, we are statutorily required to investigate. That’s why we’ve called for the assistance of the Texas Rangers.”
Her announcement comes after Gov. Greg Abbott called for an investigation into Texas’ largest county, where he received fewer votes than Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke.
“I’m calling on the Secretary of State, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Texas Rangers to initiate investigations into allegations of improprieties in the way that the 2022 elections were conducted in Harris County,” Abbott said in a statement.
“The allegations of election improprieties in our state’s largest county may result from anything ranging from malfeasance to blatant criminal conduct. Voters in Harris County deserve to know what happened. Integrity in the election process is essential. To achieve that standard, a thorough investigation is warranted,” he continued.
The Harris County Republican Party sued Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum on Monday for allegedly releasing voting results early, a violation of Texas election laws.
The lawsuit claims that Harris County’s election was run in a way that “illegally disenfranchised tens of thousands of registered voters from casting their votes,” although it seeks only injunctive relief from a state district court and does not attempt to overturn any election results.
Tatum, in response, said that his office is “fully committed to transparency regarding the processes and procedures implemented” during the midterms.
“We are a transparent organization,” Tatum said in a statement. “There is nothing for us to hide. We have an elections plan. We followed the plan. Some of the plan didn’t go as anticipated. We will review what did not work well. We will build upon those things that worked well, and we will correct the things that did not work well.”
