{"id":650974,"date":"2026-03-12T19:39:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:39:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/650974\/"},"modified":"2026-03-12T19:39:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T19:39:14","slug":"dallas-democrats-withdraw-lawsuit-seeking-to-count-primary-ballots-cast-during-extended-voting-hours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/650974\/","title":{"rendered":"Dallas Democrats withdraw lawsuit seeking to count primary ballots cast during extended voting hours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Texas\u2019 free newsletter here.<\/a><\/p>\n

What happened?<\/p>\n

Primary ballots cast by Democratic voters in Dallas who got in line to vote after 7 p.m. won\u2019t be tallied, after the county Democratic party Thursday withdrew a lawsuit seeking to have them counted. <\/p>\n

Dallas County officials had told Votebeat 1,756 Democratic ballots were in limbo pending the resolution of the lawsuit. <\/p>\n

Dallas County Democrats <\/a>said the party had determined the Texas Supreme Court \u201cis no longer a viable forum for seeking a fair and independent application of the law regarding this issue.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Texas Supreme Court has yet to rule on a lawsuit involving ballots cast after 7 p.m. at two Williamson County polling places. That ruling will determine whether 12 ballots in the Democratic primary and 4 ballots in the Republican primary should be counted, county officials said. <\/p>\n

How Texas safeguards elections \u2014 and what still poses a threat<\/p>\n

Get the latest reporting on voting technology, misinformation, the push for hand-counting ballots, and more in Votebeat Texas’ free newsletter, delivered twice a month.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the dispute?<\/p>\n

This year, Republicans in Dallas and Williamson counties chose not to use centralized countywide voting locations<\/a>, as had long been both counties\u2019 practice. That decision came as Republicans statewide have made unfounded claims<\/a> that countywide voting makes elections less secure. As a result, all voters in those counties \u2014 Democratic and Republican \u2014 were required to cast ballots at their assigned neighborhood polling places on March 3.<\/p>\n

The change confused and frustrated<\/a> many voters who went to the locations where they typically vote and found themselves being redirected, sometimes to polling places a considerable distance away. <\/p>\n

Democrats in both counties asked courts to extend polling place hours, and judges in each county granted the extension<\/a>. In both counties, voters who got in line after 7 p.m. at polling places covered by the orders were allowed to cast provisional ballots. But Paxton\u2019s office intervened, arguing his office had not been properly notified of the request, and later on March 3, the Texas Supreme Court issued orders instructing the counties to separate any ballots from voters who were not in line by 7 p.m. Those votes were not included in the unofficial results released so far. <\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

<\/b>The temporary order by the Texas Supreme Court had left unclear whether votes cast by people who arrived after 7 p.m. in both counties would be part of the final vote count.<\/p>\n

Read more Votebeat coverage of the Texas primary:<\/b><\/p>\n