Isabel Longoria, the Harris County Elections Administrator, released a statement saying political parties would seek a court order relating to the time needed to count ballots.
Longoria said county election officials, representatives from both political parties and the county attorney's office had a phone call with the secretary of state's office following Secretary John Scott's initial announcement of Harris County election result delays, as well as the provision requiring precinct election records to be delivered 24 hours after polls close.
"After discussing the potential criminal and new civil penalties associated with delayed reporting and the outdated nature of such a law, and at the recommendation of the Secretary of State’s Office, the political parties decided to seek a court order regarding the time associated with counting the ballots," Longoria said.
Longoria said the process would continue over the next few days as the elections office "prioritizes accuracy over speed."
7:23 p.m. March 1
The secretary of state’s office reported Harris County would not be able to count and report all primary election votes by the March 2 deadline.
According to the secretary of state’s office, ballots must be counted 24 hours after polls close on election day, March 1.
Secretary John Scott said Harris County election officials reported damage to physical ballot sheets before they could be counted at the central count location.
“Our office stands ready to assist Harris County election officials, and all county election officials throughout the state, in complying with Texas Election Code requirements for accurately tabulating and reporting primary election results,” Scott said. “We want to ensure that all Texans who have cast a ballot in this year's primary elections can have confidence in the accuracy of results."
