Texas Democrats Hit Long Lines and Tech Problems in 2022's First Primary [View all]

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The Daily Beast
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At some sites, Republicans walked right in to vote while Democrats in separate lines and using separate machines were stuck waiting

thedailybeast.com
Texas Democrats Hit Long Lines and Tech Problems in 2022’s First Primary
At some sites, Republicans walked right in to vote while Democrats in separate lines and using separate machines were stuck waiting.
8:40 AM · Mar 2, 2022

https://www.thedailybeast.com/texas-democrats-hit-long-lines-and-tech-problems-in-2022s-first-primary

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HOUSTON—As voters in Texas’ most populous county headed to their polling places for Tuesday’s primary election, they were met with seas of colorful campaign signs, hopeful candidates and electioneers delivering last-minute stump speeches.

Campaign supporters filled parking lots, sometimes playing music and handing out treats to rile up attendees. Politicos shook hands and waved posters all around.

But amid all the political glamor, voters at some polling sites were also met with long lines and malfunctioning voting machines. And those issues came on top of already significant struggles with SB 1, a voting bill signed into law last year that heightened ID requirements for mail-in voters, banned drive-through voting and banned 24-hour voting sites, which the county used in 2020.

The problems started early. When voting began at 7 a.m., the county’s website mapping out nearby polling places for individuals crashed. In an effort to quickly mitigate the issue, Harris County Elections pointed voters to a written list of its polling sites, requiring early-morning voters to parse through a catalog of 375 different locations. Harris County allows voters to vote at any location within county limits.

Once voters arrived at a polling location, they faced dramatically mixed experiences with wait times and access. While some locations offered quick turnarounds, others were bogged down with hefty wait-times, sometimes spanning 30 to 45 minutes.

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