Two Lone Star College System board of trustee positions up for election Nov. 5 will mistakenly be on all Harris County ballots within the system’s boundaries, county elections officials confirmed Oct. 10.

Long story short

LSCS staff submitted November’s board of trustee races as at-large positions when they should have been district-specific, said Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth, via an Oct. 10 email. The ballot proofs were then verified by LSCS staff on Sept. 7. Due to the error, Hudspeth said candidates for LSCS districts 1 and 2 will be listed on ballots for LSCS voters living outside of the candidate’s specific districts.

Hudspeth said LSCS alerted the county about the error on Sept. 25, but after consulting with the Secretary of State’s Office, the County Attorney’s Office and Harris County Elections Department staff, she determined it was too late to change the ballots.

“Given the timing and the fact that voting is already underway, amending the ballot is not feasible,” Hudspeth said. “Changing the ballot now would require a complete redo, including reprogramming, a new logic and accuracy test, and reissuing mail ballots, which would cause confusion and jeopardize the integrity of the election.”

District 1 covers portions of west Harris County including the communities of Cy-Fair and Cypress, according to LSCS’ website. District 2 stretches across north Harris County, covering the communities of Spring, Aldine and Humble.

Looking ahead

According to an Oct. 7 news release posted on the college system’s website, LSCS officials will:

• Request “all legally available data” from the Harris County elections department to calculate the “winner of the majority of votes of eligible voters”
• Seek court guidance on “a possible new election” if the department’s data can’t help college leaders figure out the winner

LSCS officials declined to comment on the ballot error as of press time Oct. 11.

In case you missed it

In the upcoming election, LSC Chair Michael Stoma will face Shashanka P. Ashili and Paul A. Santillan for the District 1 seat. Meanwhile, incumbent Ernestine M. Pierce is running against challenger Daniel "Danny" Meza for District 2. LSC’s trustees serve six-year terms, according to the college system's website.

What else?

LSCS’ board of trustee election ballot items will go to the correct voters in Montgomery County for the college system’s November election, District Clerk Cynthia Jamieson confirmed Oct. 10.

Learn more

To view Q&As with the LSCS November District 1 candidates, click here. For the District 2 candidate Q&A, click here.

To view the Harris County sample ballot, click here. To view the Montgomery County sample ballot, click here.