As Harris County\u2019s 280 polling places began closing up shop Tuesday night, officials from the county clerk\u2019s office said they received reports of last-minute primary voters waiting in long lines, but no widespread problems with technology or people being turned away.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t be in the wrong precinct since we have countywide voting in Harris County,\u201d said Rosio Torres-Segura, communications administrator for the county clerk\u2019s office, around 8:30 p.m. \u201cIt\u2019s been a good election, no major problems.\u201d <\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t the case in Dallas, where hundreds were told they were at the wrong polling location. Dallas previously allowed voters to cast ballots at centralized locations on Election Day but switched this year to an assigned neighborhood precinct system, a change prompted by the county\u2019s Republican Party, according to the Dallas Morning News<\/a>. A judge ruled Tuesday evening that, because of the changes in voting location rules, hours would be extended to 9 p.m. <\/p>\n Harris County had its own political power struggle this year, as the GOP opted out of holding the primaries jointly, which would have allowed the parties to share poll workers and equipment. Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel said that\u2019s the way it\u2019s been done for decades, with the exception of a 2024 joint primary, and Republicans wanted a process they could trust. <\/p>\n Democratic Party Chair Mike Doyle said it was an effort by Republicans to manufacture chaos so the state government could take control of Harris County elections. Long lines were expected late in the day on Tuesday, and County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth told the Houston Press she didn\u2019t expect that final results would be reported until early Wednesday morning. <\/p>\n \u201cNot only is [a split primary] going to have a financial complexity to it, double the amount of costs and we have to put more technical people in the field, [a joint election] makes it easier for voters and that\u2019s what should matter in this election,\u201d Hudspeth said. \u201cSplitting election workers and voting equipment could mean slower processing times and an increase in wait times.\u201d <\/p>\n Around 4 p.m., the Harris County Elections Department said more than 126,000 people cast in-person ballots, in addition to the more than 346,000 early votes that were cast. Due to heavy traffic around NRG Stadium related to the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo, voters who planned to cast ballots at the Wyndam Hotel Houston on Kirby Drive were told in a social media post that they could visit any of the other Harris County polling places. <\/p>\n Harris County is the third most populous county in the United States, trailing Los Angeles County and Cook County, Illinois. With 2.7 million registered voters, running an election is a tall order, Hudspeth said, pointing out that political parties contract with the clerk\u2019s office to operate their own primaries, and Hudspeth\u2019s staff provides support. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are no elections that are flawless because it involves human beings,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n Torres-Segura added that, \u201cby the end of tonight, we project this will be the first midterm primary election in which we surpass a combined half-million voters across early voting and Election Day.\u201d<\/p>\n