New lawsuit seeks to force Dallas County to use precinct voting again for runoff after messy primary
This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access.
By Natalia Contreras, Votebeat
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization reporting on voting access and election administration across the U.S. Sign up for Votebeat Texas’ free newsletter here.
Some Dallas County Republicans on Monday sued the county elections department in a bid to require voters to cast ballots for the May 26 primary runoff at specific polling places in their precincts rather than any location in the county. That precinct-based voting system on primary election day in March created chaos.
Local party leadership is trying to reverse a decision made by its former chair, who resigned last week after facing backlash for agreeing to use countywide voting on election day in the runoff. But early voting for the runoff election starts May 18, and Dallas County election officials say it’s too late to change course.
The lawsuit, filed in the Texas Fifth Court of Appeals by Barry Wernick, a Republican precinct chair and a candidate for Dallas County Commissioner District 2, is asking the court to require the county to use precinct polling places for the runoff election.
Wernick is arguing the former party chair, Allen West, didn’t have the authority to agree to the use of countywide voting. Thirty-one party members signed declarations supporting the lawsuit, according to the filing. In addition, the county party’s executive committee voted Monday night in favor of using precinct polling places for the runoff election.
With countywide sites, voters can cast their ballots anywhere in the county on Election Day. Using precincts means voters would instead have to go to assigned polling places, though early voting would still take place using countywide sites.
But Dallas County election officials are already deep into preparations for the election.
“We’re going to continue preparing for the election under the contract that we have, and that’s the countywide vote center model, unless otherwise directed by a court,” said Nic Solorzano, a spokesman for the Dallas County Elections Department. “We are equipping more than 200 Election Day locations, training thousands of poll workers — all of that is a massive operation that’s already underway.”
The office has already programmed voting equipment in accordance with the plan to use countywide vote centers, Solorzano said. Logic and accuracy testing — a public test required by state law to check the accuracy of election equipment — has been done and would have to be done again if the plan changes. And mail ballots have been sent out, which means election officials are tied up handling those and other necessary tasks.
Wernick’s attorney, Warren Norred, said he doesn’t believe that the county isn’t easily able to change course, and that county election officials shouldn’t have taken West’s decision as valid.
“They have created this problem,” Norred said, referring to the county elections department. “If it’s a mild inconvenience, and they’re going to have to really convince the court of appeals that they can’t do it.”
For the March 3 primary, Republicans in Dallas County chose to require voters to report to precincts instead of countywide vote centers, a switch permissible by state law that forced the county Democrats to do the same. The switch caused chaos and confusion across the county.
More than 12,000 voters from both parties showed up at the wrong polling location on Election Day.
In the wake of that, then-party chair Allen West said on March 17 that he had agreed to use countywide polling sites for the runoff election because using precinct sites would cause “large-scale disruption.” West signed an amended contract agreeing to use countywide vote centers on March 18, Solorzano said.
The decision sparked a backlash, and ultimately led to West’s resignation last week.
Following that resignation, members of the Dallas County Republican Party pushed to reverse the decision to use countywide sites. In the lawsuit, Wernick asserts that the contract amendment West signed isn’t valid because it requires the approval of the party’s executive committee. The lawsuit asks the court to require the county elections department to follow the original contract, which says voters must cast ballots at assigned precincts.
Signing the amendment “directly contradicted the authority given to him… regarding the election process,” according to Wernick’s court filing. West declined to comment.
Natalia Contreras is a reporter for Votebeat in partnership with The Texas Tribune. She is based in Corpus Christi. Contact Natalia at ncontreras@votebeat.org
Votebeat is a nonprofit news organization covering local election integrity and voting access. Sign up for their newsletters here.