During the Nov. 8 election, 1,816 ballots went missing after a malfunctioning electronic voting machine was taken offline and the machine's memory card was temporarily misplaced, Elections Administrator
Jennifer Anderson told the Hays County Commissioners Court on Tuesday.
Due to state law, which dictates that once the votes have been canvassed they cannot be added to or subtracted from, the 2016 results canvassed by Hays County and multiple cities will stand.
At Commissioners Court on Tuesday, commissioners raised the possibility of having a state representative or senator sponsor legislation in the current legislative session that could allow the ballots to be counted in the official total.
The only election to be swayed by the missing votes—seven propositions related to bond issuance for the Anthem Municipal Utility District near Kyle—was overturned by a judge after an election contest.
Anderson said the elections office plans to address the issue by implementing new equipment logging systems and updating the county's voting technology. Despite the misplaced ballots and the equipment malfunction, Anderson emphasized that the electronic voting system retained the votes it had tallied before crashing.
“The [mobile ballot box] that went down was at the end of its life,” Anderson said. “To make sure this doesn’t happen again is to make sure that we have the latest hardware and software. Even with all that, the voting machine was accurate. It kept data. It did not destroy data.”
Straight-ticket voting
In the initial canvass of the votes more county voters chose to vote a straight Republican ticket than a straight Democrat ticket.
Initial returns
Republican: 22,129
Democrat: 20,149
Libertarian: 1,026
Green: 486
Lost ballots
Republican: 454
Democrat: 517
Libertarian: 15
Green: 4
Total
Republican: 22,583
Democrat: 20,666
Libertarian: 1,041
Green: 490
President
The Trump/Pence ticket still won Hays County, but when the lost ballots are factored in his victory shrank by 161 votes.
Initial returns
Donald Trump/Mike Pence: 33,826
Hilary Clinton/ Tim Kaine: 33,224
Gary Johnson/Bill Weld: 3,630
Jill Stein/Ajamu Baraka: 1,061
Lost ballots
Trump/Pence: 768
Clinton/Kaine: 929
Johnson/Weld: 63
Stein/Baraka: 15
Total
Trump/Pence: 34,594
Clinton/Kaine: 34,153
Johnson/Weld: 3,693
Stein/Baraka: 1,076
Hays County sheriff
Hays County sheriff incumbent Gary Cutler still won his race, and his victory over challenger Rodrigo Amaya grew slightly with the lost ballots.
Initial returns
Gary Cutler: 39,512
Rodrigo Amaya: 30,405
Lost ballots
Cutler: 903
Amaya: 849
Total
Cutler: 40,415
Amaya: 31,254
Constable, Pct. No. 2, Constable No. 2
The outcome of the closest race on Election Day would not have changed, but challenger Michael Torres saw victory over three-decade incumbent James Kohler grow slightly with the lost ballots.
Initial returns
James Kohler: 7,017
Michael Torres: 7,127
Lost ballots
Kohler: 65
Torres: 82
Total
Kohler: 7,082
Torres: 7,209
Proposition 1—Public safety facilities
Voters throughout the county approved Proposition 1, and the margin of approval grew slightly when the lost ballots are factored in.
Initial returns
For: 32,332
Against: 30,872
Lost ballots
For: 948
Against: 622
Total
For: 33,280
Against: 31,494
Proposition 2—Transportation projects
Voters approved Proposition 2 by a wider margin than Proposition 1. With lost ballots factored in, the approval margin grew by 505 votes.
Initial returns
For: 37,721
Against: 25,704
Lost ballots
For: 1,038
Against: 533
Total
For: 38,759
Against: 26,237
Anthem Municipal Utility District (seven total propositions)
This election outcome changed, and a judge overturned the initial outcome through an election contest.
Initial returns
For: 0
Against: 1
Lost ballots
For: 2
Against: 0
Total
For: 2
Against: 1
San Marcos Mayor
Ruben Becerra and John Thomaides still ended up receiving the most votes with the lost ballots factored in, so they still would have headed to a runoff.
Initial returns
Sam Brannon: 2,430
Jacob Montoya: 1,246
Cherif Gacis: 436
Ruben Becerra: 4,231
John Thomaides: 3,903
Lost ballots
Brannon: 192
Montoya: 51
Gacis: 27
Becerra: 239
Thomaides: 340
Total
Brannon: 2,622
Montoya: 1,297
Gacis: 463
Becerra: 4,470
Thomaides: 4,243
San Marcos City Council, Place 1
Prewitt handily defeated challenger Rene J. Compean in the Place 1 race for San Marcos City Council.
Initial returns
Rene J. Compean: 2,857
Lisa Prewitt: 7,885
Lost ballots
Compean: 170
Prewitt: 632
Total
Compean: 3,027
Prewitt: 8,517
San Marcos City Council, Place 2
Saul Gonzales and Shane Scott were still the top two vote-getters, so they still would have headed to their runoff, even with the lost ballots accounted for.
Initial returns
Saul Gonzales: 3,932
Shane Scott: 3,387
Allison Cason: 1,134
Lisa Marie Coppoletta: 2,617
Lost ballots
Gonzales: 252
Scott: 254
Cason: 66
Coppoletta: 233
Total
Gonzales: 4,184
Scott: 3,641
Cason: 1,200
Coppoletta: 2,850
San Marcos City Council, Place 3
Initial returns showed Jason Montgomery narrowly edging Ed Mihalkanin by six votes, but with the lost ballots factored in, Mihalkanin actually received more votes. The two candidates still would have headed to a runoff though.
Initial returns
Jason Dalton Montgomery: 2,730
Ed Mihalkanin: 2,724
Brian K. Henderson: 1,790
Gaylord Bose: 2,387
Lost ballots
Montgomery: 173
Mihalkanin: 284
Henderson: 99
Bose: 188
Total
Montgomery: 2,903
Mihalkanin: 3,008
Henderson: 1,889
Bose: 2,575
Buda City Council, Place 1
Lee Urbanovsky and John Hatch still would have headed to a runoff because neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 8 election.
Initial returns
Lee Urbanovsky: 1,852
Theodore Kosub: 325
John Hatch: 1,683
Lost ballots
Urbanovsky: 7
Kosub: 0
Hatch: 15
Total
Urbanovsky: 1,859
Kosub: 325
Hatch: 1,698
Buda City Council, Place 2
Hopkins margin of victory over challenger Jeffrey Morales grew slightly when the lost ballots are factored in.
Initial returns
Wiley Hopkins: 1,872
Jeffrey Morales: 1,484
Lost ballots
Hopkins: 12
Morales: 9
Total
Hopkins: 1,884
Morales: 1,493
