The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for January 10, 2023
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
Votebeat Texas – Harris County still doesn’t know how many voters were kept from voting on Election Day
Votebeat Texas – Critics are pouncing on Harris County’s election fumbles, real and concocted, to fuel legal challenges
Votebeat Texas – Too big of a job: Why Maricopa County’s ballot printers failed on Election Day
Texas Tribune – GOP Harris County judge candidate contesting her loss after Election Day problems at polling sites
Arizona Daily Independent News Network – Maricopa County Hires Supreme Court Justice To Review Botched 2022 Election
Groups Taking Action:
League of Women Voters Arizona, Voto Latino, Arizona Alliance for Retired Americans
Today’s Script: (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time)
You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.
The 2022 Midterm elections had few problems around the country, but we have two updates for communities where things DID go wrong, and for which investigations and lawsuits are proceeding.
In Houston, Votebeat Texas and the Texas Tribune report that a review by Harris County election officials didn’t conclusively find fault for why ballot paper shortages in over 60 precincts caused some voters to be turned away. Computer problems caused late openings and long lines in other precincts. The lack of a $40,000 problem-tracking software system, which could have alerted election officials to the problems, was cited earlier as one cause. Officials still aren’t sure of the number of voters disenfranchised by the problems.
Twelve Republican candidates cried foul, filing suits last week claiming the election results were tainted and the election must be re-run.
Meanwhile, the Arizona Independent Daily News Network reports that former Arizona Supreme Court Chief Justice Ruth McGregor has been tapped to review why some printers printed ballots too light, causing the optical ballot readers to not read them properly. The problem affected one third of the voting precincts in Maricopa County, though the ballots were sequestered for hand counting instead. The review was applauded by current and former election officials as important to maintain the public’s confidence in the elections process.
We have links to articles and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.