Tech Issues Slow Primary Count In Houston Area – Richmond Times-Dispatch

Tuesday marked Texas’ first election under its tighter new voting laws that, among other changes muscled through by the GOP-controlled Legislature, require mail ballots to now include identification. It’s a mandate that counties blamed for thousands of rejected mail ballots even before Election Day. More than 10,000 mail ballots around Houston alone were flagged for not complying. Technical issues also caused problems in Texas’ largest county: Paper jams and paper tears in voting machines would take a couple days to work through while counting, said Isabel Longoria, Harris County’s elections administrator. Several voting sites around Houston were also short-staffed, she said, causing tensions in some locations.