Fort Bend County Reports Problems With Electronic Poll List, Glitch Forces Manual Verification Of Voters

Voter turnout is reported to be light in today’s primary runoff election, but some Fort Bend County polling places are experiencing delays due to a malfunction with the county’s electronic poll list.

Fort Bend County Elections Administrator John Oldham said the electronic poll book – commonly called the “voter list” – was not working properly.

Because of the glitch, poll workers are having to manually record the voter’s name and address on the poll book and then manually issue a code that allows them to cast their ballot, Oldham said.

“We are encouraging the poll workers to call and verify which party’s primary the voter participated in, so that a ballot would not be issued to an unqualified voter,” Oldham explained.

An “unqualified voter” would be someone who initially voted in one party’s primary and now wants to vote in the other party’s runoff.

“We are unaware of any instances of this happening, but still want to be sure,” Oldham said.

Because of the need to manually verify the information, some delays in casting ballots are being experienced.

Oldham stressed that problem was only with the poll list, not the actual voting system.

“There are no issues with our voting system.  That is working fine,” he said.

Today’s GOP primary runoff features a countywide contest between Nina Schaefer and John Healey for district attorney, as well as a statewide runoff for Place 3 on the Texas Supreme Court and the District 10 member of the State Board of Education.

Fort Bend Republicans will also decide between incumbent Gary Geick and challenger Mary Ward for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 1, Place 2. That race has drawn some attention for the fact that Geick has been unable to preside over the JP court since suffering a stroke late last year; however, Geick has repeatedly said he is recuperating and will be able to fulfill his duties if re-elected.

Fort Bend County Democrats will be deciding who will challenge either Geick or Ward for the post. Aurelia Moore and R.J. Blue are in a runoff for the Democratic nomination for the Justice of the Peace position.