HARRIS COUNTY, TX (Covering Katy News) - Two days after Republican Governor Greg Abbott called for an investigation into Harris County’s most recent election, Democratic District Attorney Kim Ogg announced her own investigation with the help of the Texas Rangers.
The Katy area spans Harris, Fort Bend and Waller Counties.
“Free and fair elections are the bedrock of our democracy, Ogg said in a statement released Tuesday. ‘When we get credible complaints of election irregularities, we are statutorily required to investigate. That’s why we’ve called for the assistance of the Texas Rangers.”
Allegations include paper shortages that disenfranchised voters, improper handling of spoiled ballots, which could result in double counting of votes, and instances in which a voter’s two-page ballot could not be properly scanned and recorded.
The polls at Katy's Taylor High School were among the locations where people said there were irregularities.
Ogg’s office will present the investigation’s results to a Harris County grand jury.
“We do this regardless of the party affiliation of the complainants,” Ogg said. “After the 2020 election, we charged three Democrats and two Republicans. As the elected District Attorney, it is my duty to follow the evidence and the law, and I will.”
The Republican party claims 23 polling locations, most of them in GOP strongholds, were without paper, prompting voters to be turned away. The paper is used to print a voter’s selections which are then scanned and recorded.
“We are a transparent organization," Harris County Election’s Administrator Clifford Tatum told County Commissioners on Tuesday. “There is nothing for us to hide. We have an election plan. We followed the plan. Some of the plan didn’t go as anticipated. We will review what did not work, we’ll build upon the things that did not work well and we will correct the things that didn’t work well.”