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6mo ago

Texas Supreme Court Puts Late Primary Ballots on Hold as Counties Confront Voting Disruptions

New voting setups in several counties created long lines and delayed results.

Primary voter Allie Davis carries her seven-week-old son Declan as a Dallas County Election Navigator checks her ID before entering a voting center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Primary voters line up to cast ballots at a voting center in Dallas, Tuesday, March 3, 2026. (AP Photo/LM Otero)
Eastland County election officials Temi Nichols and Donna Fagan aggregate GOP mail-in ballot totals from the party's hand count around 12:30 a.m. after the March 3 primary election. The counting of ballots by hand continued into the morning of Wednesday, March 4.
Bexar County Elections Administrator Michele Carew said the software the county uses to tabulate votes was running slower than usual on Tuesday night.

Overview

  • The Texas Supreme Court stayed local orders in Dallas and Williamson counties that extended polling hours and directed that ballots from voters not in line by 7 p.m. be segregated.
  • Dallas County officials say more than 2,300 in-person provisional ballots are set aside and will remain on hold pending further legal direction.
  • In Williamson County, ballots cast after 7 p.m. at two Georgetown sites were separated after a judge’s extension to 10 p.m. was suspended by the high court.
  • Technical and administrative issues slowed operations elsewhere: El Paso added one hour of voting after poll-pad check-in failures, and Bexar reported late results due to low storage in its Electionware tabulation system and plans upgrades using a state grant.
  • Counties have shifted to post-election audits, reconciliation and provisional-ballot reviews as legal challenges continue over precinct-only and split-party procedures that confused and redirected voters.