What this is
Fort Bend County investigates voting system failure that blocked voters for over two hours during primary runoff election.
Fort Bend County officials are investigating why a widespread technical problem at polling locations during Tuesday’s primary runoff elections led to a period of more than two hours when voters were unable to cast ballots without doing so provisionally.
The county's election administration office first received reports of issues with the electronic polling books from polling locations across the county just after 3 p.m. Tuesday, according to Fort Bend County Election Administrator Chase Wilson. The problem was resolved by about 6 p.m., an hour before polling locations closed.
Two days later, interim County Judge Daniel Wong addressed the issue during Thursday’s commissioners court meeting and said an improperly uploaded election data file created a "significant disruption" and caused confusion for voters.
"A thorough review of this incident is currently underway," Wong said, "and I am requesting a complete review of the election administration procedures to strengthen safeguards and to ensure that disruption to county voting operations do not happen in the future."
Cox said she asked the poll worker if she could vote another way.
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Wong's communications director, Bobby Eberle, told Houston Public Media on Tuesday the glitch didn't affect voting machines, but rather the software that's used to check in voters and verify their registrations.
"They just uploaded the wrong file accidentally, one of the elections administrator's personnel," Eberle said. "As soon as they did that, they were isolating the problem and working with the vendor to find a solution."
Polling hours were not extended on Election Day as a result of the problem. According to election officials in the county southwest of Houston, voters who were unable to successfully check in could choose to submit a provisional ballot.
But Fort Bend County resident Sherri Cox said when she went to the Sugar Land Public Library to vote around 4 p.m., the election workers told her to come back while the countywide system glitch was occurring.
"I walked up to the poll worker and she asked for my ID, and I gave her my driver's license. She put it on the machine and then she said, ‘It's not working, the system is down,' " Cox said.
"She said, ‘No, you'll just have to come back later. We're open until 7,’ " Cox said.
Cox managed to return back to the polling location, closer to 6 p.m., after hearing from her husband, who voted in the evening, that the systems were back up and running.
"I've lived in Fort Bend County for almost 20 years and I've never had an issue voting before," Cox said. "I'm hoping that this is a glitch that they get worked out before the (November) midterms because the midterms are going to be really important, especially for Texas."
Fort Bend County Precinct 4 Commissioner Dexter McCoy, who won the Democratic nomination for county judge on Tuesday and will face the Republican Wong in November, said those who were responsible for the issue will be held accountable.
“I think now the task ahead of us is … that we do everything that we can to re-instill trust in the systems of government that our residents expect,” McCoy said. “I think that’s the message here.”
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Key details
- Topic: Fort Bend County election system failure investigation
- Problem: Electronic voter check-in stopped working for 2 hours (3-6 p.m.)
- Cause: Staff accidentally uploaded wrong data file to system
- Impact: Voters had to use provisional ballots or return later
- Next step: County Judge ordered complete review of election procedures
Where it reaches
- Phone
- 14888184115
Available across Houston.
Why it matters
Fort Bend County's voting computers failed for 2 hours during the election, making it hard for people to vote. This affects everyone's right to vote and shows why we need reliable election systems in our growing community.
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