County Gop In Texas Will Switch Voting Rules For The Runoff After Primary Day Chaos

The Republican Party successful Dallas County, Texas, will move backmost to a countywide voting strategy for nan state’s May 26 runoff elections aft voters knowledgeable monolithic disruptions during nan superior earlier this period owed to nan precinct-based strategy that was successful place.

In a connection connected Tuesday announcing nan decision, Dallas County Republican Party Chair Allen West said “there comes a clip to cognize erstwhile to declare occurrence and not spell a span excessively far.”

“I person made nan determination that seeking to do precinct based operations for nan runoff Election Day exposes nan DCRP to accrued consequence and elector confusion,” West wrote. “From nan extremity of April done May location will beryllium municipal elections and early voting for nan runoff. All of these elections are countywide voting. To past displacement for nan 1 time runoff predetermination to precincts would bring astir ample standard disruption.”

But West wouldn’t norm retired returning to nan precinct strategy aft nan runoff, saying that his region statement had “successfully executed a non associated precinct based superior cognition connected March 3, 2026” and that “we tin return that success, measure nan lessons learned and amended upon nan process and procedures for March 2028.”

Generally, governmental parties successful Texas oversee superior voting. Democrats and Republicans often administer elections jointly and outsource nan operations to region predetermination officials, who person tally countywide voting centers successful caller cycles that let voters to formed ballots wherever is astir convenient for them.

But Republicans successful Dallas County, nan 2nd astir populous region successful Texas, chose to tally their primaries separately astatine nan precinct level for nan March election, forcing Democrats to do nan same.

The alteration near thousands of voters confused complete wherever they were expected to spell connected March 3. Some voters were turned away, while others formed provisional ballots.

A Dallas County judge had ordered Democratic polling sites to enactment unfastened for an further 2 hours connected March 3, but that ruling was blocked soon aft by nan Texas Supreme Court.

In consequence to West's announcement, Texas Democratic Party Chairman Kendall Scudder said Republicans were “scrambling to undo nan harm they created” aft “causing chaos connected Election Day.”

“For months, Democrats warned that forcing a return to a precinct-only strategy during Election Day would confuse voters, create agelong lines, and move group distant from nan polls, and that’s precisely what happened. This was a wholly avoidable nonaccomplishment that wasted payer dollars and undermined elector confidence,” Scudder said successful a statement.

The Williamson County Republican Party successful Texas besides utilized precinct-level voting sites connected March 3. A spokesperson didn’t instantly respond to questions astir whether nan statement would besides make a alteration for nan May runoff.

In Dallas County, Republicans initially made nan alteration successful hopes of counting their superior ballots by hand, a process rooted successful conspiracy theories astir nan accuracy of voting machines that predetermination experts pass tin lead to errors and delayed results. While they yet abandoned their plans to hand-count ballots by manus because of nan precocious costs, precinct-level voting still went into effect.

GOP Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton are facing disconnected successful a high-profile superior runoff for Senate connected May 26, erstwhile voters will besides determine nan result of respective House primaries.