Fort Bend County officials are investigating a glitch in the electronic voter check-in system that disrupted polling locations.
FORT BEND COUNTY, Texas — Fort Bend County officials are reviewing Tuesday’s countywide election day glitch after disruptions tied to the electronic voter check-in system affected polling locations across the county.
County leaders continue insisting the issue did not impact election integrity, vote tabulation or ballot totals. But one first-time voter who spoke with KHOU 11 says he still left without casting a ballot.
Officials said the problem stemmed from a human error involving the electronic voter check-in system after the wrong file was uploaded.
During Tuesday’s news conference, Fort Bend County Judge Daniel Wong stressed the problem did not affect vote security or counting.
“At no time was there concern regarding election integrity, vote tabulation or the security of the election process,” Wong said.
Fort Bend County Elections Administrator Chase Wilson also defended the accuracy of the election results.
“This issue does not affect the integrity of the election. It does not affect the accuracy of the totals of the ballots that were submitted,” Wilson said.
Officials said voting machines continued working properly, and voters experiencing check-in problems were offered provisional ballots.
One 19-year-old Fort Bend County resident who spoke with KHOU 11 described a different experience.
The first-time voter said he arrived Tuesday afternoon at the Pecan Grove MUD Administration Building polling location in Richmond, where poll workers scanned his ID, but the electronic check-in system flagged him as ineligible to vote.
“My first reaction was just, ‘How does that happen?'” the voter said.
The voter said he had previously verified his registration status through Texas’ voter registration lookup system.
“Which confused me at first because I had registered to vote,” he said.
He said several other voters nearby appeared to be dealing with similar issues.
While he said a provisional ballot option was discussed, he did not feel comfortable moving forward.
“It didn’t really seem like a viable option because the ballot workers were confused as well, because they couldn’t even check me in to vote,” he said.
The voter said he ultimately left without casting a ballot.
“I showed up to vote and have my voice heard… and for one reason or another, that was not my fault, I wasn’t able to do that because of some issue with the system. I just don’t feel that that’s right,” he said.
Election reporter Natalia Contreras with Votebeat said technical problems and human error are not new in election administration, but a single mistake can have widespread consequences.
“One person making a mistake could really derail everything. And that’s why elections take months to prepare,” Contreras said.
She said the county will face added pressure heading into November’s larger election cycle.
“We’re going to have a huge election in November, and I think the county, after what just happened, it’s really going to have to ensure that everything… everything is ready to go… and double check everything,” she said.
KHOU 11 reached back out to both Wong’s office and the Elections Administrator on Wednesday, asking how officials will determine whether any eligible voters may have left without successfully casting a ballot.
Wong’s office said the county is not aware of complaints involving voters unable to complete the voting process and said a review is already underway with Elections Administration staff.
According to the county judge’s office, once the review is complete, Wong plans to meet with elections staff to review policies, procedures and next steps aimed at restoring public confidence ahead of November.
Despite his experience, the first-time voter said he still plans to return to the polls.
When asked whether he plans to vote again in November, he told KHOU 11: “100%, yes, definitely. I’ll give it another shot and hopefully it goes well this time.”
Wong says findings from that review will be made public once it’s complete.
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