8/2/2023
The first case against Harris County for problems in the conduct of the November 2022 election is underway.
The Harris County Republican Party sued Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum after several issues during the election, including numerous polling locations running out of ballots and machine errors. There are 21 other cases, with challenges filed by the Republican candidates who lost their elections in November, including Erin Lunceford. Among them are GOP candidate for Harris County Judge, Alexandra del Moral Mealer. Another lawsuit against Tatum comes from Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale.
This first case involves a challenge by a Republican former judge, Erin Lunceford, who ran for district court judge and lost to Democrat Tamika "Tami" Craft by a margin of 2,743 votes.
Andy Taylor, lead attorney for Lunceford is arguing that at least 3,000 voters were turned away from the polls because polling locations ran out of ballot paper. He's arguing that the Harris County Election Administrator's Office assigned 600 sets of ballot paper to most polling locations, the same as in prior midterm elections in 2018, even though they should have expected an increase in turnout. In addition, Taylor says, Harris County Elections Administrator’s attorneys misled the judge who granted an extension of voting hours by telling that judge, incorrectly, that they would be able to resupply all the polling locations. All of this, he argues, is the responsibility of Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum.
"We will show that there are more votes in the canvass than actual voters who voted," Taylor said in his opening statement. "None of the government's numbers add up. They make no sense."
The question is, are there eligible voters who did not get to cast legal votes.
Read the full story at HoustonPublicMedia.Org