On Tuesday, RTM reported that the Harris County, Texas Elections Office announced 10,000 mail-in ballots were not counted in last week’s election. The announcement caused a firestorm, initiated a lawsuit, and prompted calls for the election administrator’s termination.
On Wednesday, the Conservative Brief reported that the Harris County, Texas Elections Administrator, Isabel Longoria, announced her resignation.
CNN reports that Longoria will step down on July 1. Longoria announced her decision during a meeting of county commissioners.
CNN reported:
Before Longoria announced her departure, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo, who supported the creation of the elections administrator role and had praised Longoria as the best person for the role in October 2020, had alluded to a possible replacement earlier on Tuesday, saying she had “spoken with administrator Longoria and I’ve expressed my desire for a change in leadership.”
Hidalgo said that she, along with the Elections Commission, the county clerk and the district clerk, would find new leadership “only after a thorough search.”
“Today I am submitting my resignation effective July 1,” Longoria said. “I think this date ensures that there is a presiding officer during the May and June elections and allows the election commission the time they need to find a replacement.
Urban Reform tweeted Longoria’s brief resignation video statement.
Last Saturday, the Office of Harris County Election’s Office disclosed that the Election Night count did not include approximately 10,000 mail-in ballots.
Approximately 6,000 Democratic votes and 4,000 Republican votes were not counted.
“While the votes were scanned into our tabulation computer, they were not transferred and counted as a part of the unofficial final results as they should have been,” a spokesperson for the Harris County Elections Office told local news outlet KHOU-TV.
In the wake of the disclosure, Harris County Democrat Chair Odus Evbagharu released the following statement:
“We share concern about the issues that occurred during the primary election. We expressed this concern when the initial problems were uncovered, and we’ve stayed consistent on our position. Press conferences will not change that.
“We called for a post-election review of all processes — there has not been any skirting of party responsibility and we have been completely transparent in our desire to dig into the details of what went wrong and identify how to make corrections moving forward…”
KHOU-11 reported that Harris County GOP Chair Cindy Siegel said:
“Every voter regardless of party should be able to have confidence that their vote has been properly counted. Unfortunately, this is another example of the serious mismanagement of [Harris County Judge] Lina Hidalgo’s unqualified Elections Administrator. Isabel Longoria owes all Harris County voters an explanation,”
On Mar. 7, the Harris County GOP filed a lawsuit against Longoria and her Office for committing the “worst elections fiasco in Texas history.”
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