Frustration over an initial mail-in ballot discrepancy has led Harris County Election Administrator Isabel Longoria to submit her resignation.
Following last Tuesday’s primaries in Texas, Longoria’s office revealed that roughly 10,000 mail-in ballots were not added to the unofficial Election Night count.
As of this week, all of the ballots had been added to the count.
Longoria’s resignation will be effective July 1. Harris County, which includes Houston, has a population of nearly five million people.
KHOU-11 reports:
“Today I am submitting my resignation, effective July 1,” Longoria said. “I think this date ensures that there is a presiding officer during the May and June elections and allows the election commission the time they need to find a replacement. I remain committed to the office and its mission and hope to aid in defeating harmful rhetoric to ensure successful elections in the future.”
The primary also saw longer-than-usual vote-counting times, staffing challenges, and equipment issues.
“The buck stops with me to address issues for voters and I did not meet my own standard or the standard set by commissioners,” Longoria said.
Before Longoria’s appearance, Judge Lina Hidalgo addressed last week’s elections, saying that she had spoken with Longoria and expressed a desire for “change in leadership.”
According to the county, about 6,000 of the ballots were from Democratic primary voters. The remaining 4,000 or so came from registered Republicans.
Two days before Longoria gave her statement of resignation, the Harris County GOP announced a lawsuit against her office for what they called the “worst elections fiasco in Texas history.”
The county, state and national Republican Party consider Longoria’s resignation a start but argue that independent oversight is needed in Harris County’s May elections.
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