As people voted for the Republican Senate primaries in Texas on Tuesday to choose between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton, voters in Fort Bend County were left frustrated. A machine glitch stopped polling across booths in Fort Blend, local election officials confirmed.
There was a two-hour delay in polling across the county Tuesday after a wrong file was uploaded into the system, Fort Bend County Elections Administrator Chase Wilson confirmed the election issue. However, voting has now resumed after a two-hour delay.
But one question among the Fort Bend residents and even some local lawmakers is whether the polling hours will be extended to make up for the two-hour delay caused by the glitch. Congressman Christian Menefee was among the first to request an extension of polling hours.
“Voters should not lose a single minute of their right to vote because of a technical failure outside of their control,” a statement from Menefee on X read. “The right to vote is too important to shortchange anyone.”
But, as of now, no extension of polling hours has been announced. Voting is still expected to close at 7pm CDT in Fort Bend County, along with the rest of Texas.
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Concerns Rise Amid Polling Glitch
Reports suggest that many people who lined up to vote in Fort Bend County had left the polling station after the glitch. Although it’s unclear how many people missed out on casting their ballots, Texas US House Rep. Al Green confirmed meeting several people who were unable to vote due to the glitch, which first appeared around 3:30pm CDT.
“I just talked to a precinct judge who could not vote,” Green said. “So this shouldn’t be happening. And if you did not vote, please come back and don’t let what you heard about the possibility of the system having a glitch in it prevent you from coming to vote.
“If you get there and you cannot vote electronically, ask for a provisional ballot. That provisional ballot will be counted after all of the other ballots have been counted. And if you’re eligible to vote, you can vote provisionally.”
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Details Of The Glitch
Fort Bend County Elections Administrator Chase Wilson explained to local news outlet Chron that the issue was caused after a wrong file was accidentally uploaded into the system.
“Unfortunately, the wrong file was chosen when performing the update,” Wilson said. “It actually shut down all of the poll booths that the voters check in on whenever they enter a polling location.”
Per the report by Chron, Wilson had said around 5pm CDT that he expected the systems to be up “within the next hour.”
He added, ” “We’ve been on the phone with the vendor continually through this process. They have confirmed that the solution will work to 100% cure the issue.
