After the polls closed, El Paso County turns to audits and preps for runoff elections

EL PASO, Texas (KVIA) -- A day after technical issues slowed voter check in during Tuesday’s primary election, El Paso County election officials have shifted their focus from managing lines to completing the detailed post election work required before results become official.

El Paso County Elections Department officials said several polling locations experienced problems early Tuesday when electronic poll pads would not allow poll workers to select a voter’s party during check in, a required step in Texas primary elections. The issue led to longer lines at some sites and prompted a one-hour extension of voting, keeping polls open until 8 p.m.

“Early in the morning, we began to receive calls from some locations that their electronic poll pads were not allowing them to check voters in by selecting a party,” El Paso County Elections Administrator Lisa Wise said.

Wise said the malfunction was limited to the check in process and did not affect voting machines or ballot tabulators. Poll workers at affected sites pivoted to a paper sign in system that was used before the county adopted electronic poll books eight years ago.

The manual process, though permitted under state law, takes longer than electronic check in. Wise estimated it can take about a minute per voter, compared with roughly 10 seconds using a poll pad.

Eduardo Talamantes, who spent Tuesday campaigning outside a polling location, said the slowdown was noticeable in the morning.

“As the voting started around 7 o’clock, the very first person that came out told me that the machines were broken, something was wrong,” Talamantes said.

At his location, he said, voting appeared to pause for about an hour while workers adjusted.

“There was no voting going on at all,” Talamantes said. “People would come in, talk, and then leave.”

Some voters told him they needed to go to work or drop off their children and planned to return later.

“I remember quite a few came back afterwards, but I hope we did not miss anybody because it is a very important election,” Talamantes said.

County officials sought and received approval to extend voting hours by one hour Tuesday evening to offset the morning delays. Wise said she could not recall another time during her 11 years as elections administrator when voting hours were extended.

“We believed that was the best legal avenue to get as many voters as possible able to cast their ballots,” Wise said.

With voting complete, the work of validating and finalizing results is underway.

Wise said there are always outstanding ballots after election day. Military and overseas ballots can arrive up to six days after the election. Voters who cast provisional ballots due to identification issues have six days to provide proper ID at the courthouse. Other provisional ballots must be researched to confirm voter eligibility and ensure no one voted elsewhere.

“That is what everybody is doing right now,” Wise said. “Whether they are doing the provisional, poll worker payroll, wrapping up the poll pads, there are all these things that we need to get wrapped up.”

The county also conducts a reconciliation process, comparing the number of voters checked in with the number of ballots cast. Preliminary figures Tuesday night showed less than a 1 percent difference.

“We were well within the number of provisional ballots we still have and mail outstanding,” Wise said.

In addition, state law requires a post election manual hand count audit of randomly selected precincts. The Texas Secretary of State’s Office determines which locations must be audited, and local officials must ensure the paper ballots match machine tabulations.

Only after those steps are completed can results be canvassed and made official.

Talamantes said he remains confident in the integrity of local elections.

“As far as voting safety, I think it is pretty safe here in El Paso,” Talamantes said. “Regardless of what I hear national complaints or whatever, we are still going to vote because it is not going to keep us from voting.”

Looking ahead, Wise said the county is preparing for a primary runoff election scheduled for May 26, along with a smaller uniform election earlier in May for several entities.

Voters who did not participate in Tuesday’s primary may vote in the runoff. Those who did vote in the primary must remain with the same party for the runoff.

“The day after election day is not a day of rest as so many people think,” Wise said. “There is a lot of work to still be done.”