AUSTIN (Covering Katy News) - Harris County voters in Katy and numerous other locations had trouble casting ballots on Tuesday, and now Governor Abbott is calling for an investigation.
"Voters in Harris County were frustrated by confusion and delays, including missing keys, insufficient paper ballots in Republican precincts, staffing problems, and more," a statement from the Governor's office said.
Voters at Katy's Taylor High School, a historically Republican area, faced delays because that location reportedly ran out of paper ballots.
But the problems were not only in the traditionally Republican areas, according to the New York Times, which reported issues at the Metropolitan Multi-Service Center, a predominantly Hispanic site. The Times reported those voters had four-hour delays because voting machines were malfunctioning.
Houston Public media posted a picture of voters waiting at a Montrose polling location after the polls ran out of paper in that traditionally Democratic neighborhood.
"I'm calling on the Secretary of State, the Attorney General's Office, and the Texas Rangers to initiate investigations into allegations of improprieties in the way that the 2022 elections were conducted in Harris County," said Abbott. "The allegations of election improprieties in our state's largest county may result from anything ranging from malfeasance to blatant criminal conduct. Voters in Harris County deserve to know what happened. Integrity in the election process is essential. To achieve that standard, a thorough investigation is warranted."
On election day, the Harris County Republican party posted a list of 20 GOP stronghold locations that were having delays.
Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum said his office is "fully committed to transparency regarding the processes and procedures implemented."
Tatum says Harris County has already been selected to participate in the Secretary of State's audit of 2022 elections. The Secretary of State oversees elections in Texas.
It is not the first time Harris County has had trouble conducting problem-free elections in recent years.
Isabel Longoria, the former election administrator, resigned on July 1, 2022. Longoria's resignation followed backlash over the March 1 primary issues, where thousands of ballots were left out of the election results.