Runoff elections show Texas not quite ready for November's main event
As dress rehearsals go, Tuesday's Texas primary runoff elections weren't bad, but for some voters and poll workers they revealed problems that need to be fixed before November's big show.
With much lower turnout than primary or general elections, the first in-person election day during the coronavirus pandemic saw voters reporting heavily sanitized polling places, an ample supply of gloves, finger cots or pencils to mark up their ballots and socially distanced lines. With a tiny ballot in many places, some were in and out of polling places in minutes.
But some Texans who sought to vote by mail — and submitted their applications on time — indicated they never received their ballots. Some opted to instead vote in person. Others went uncounted. It’s unknown how many were affected.
Other voters sent in their mail-in ballots only to have them returned unopened. Some of those reached county elections offices after a second attempt, while others still appeared lost on election night. It’s also unknown how many were affected.
In some counties, previously advertised polling places were shuttered at the last minute for lack of workers, some fearing the pandemic or reluctant to risk exposure to voters who were not required to wear masks. Others walked off the job Tuesday morning after discovering some of their fellow poll workers wouldn’t be donning masks.
And throughout the night, the Texas secretary of state's portal for reporting election night returns was either broken or incorrect, first displaying garbled numbers in various races on the ballot and later showing discrepancies with county reports.
https://www.texastribune.org/2020/07/15/texas-primary-runoff-elections-november/
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