Houston Early Voting Complaints

by Kim D.

According to KHOU, Houstonians are enthusiastically voting, willing to wait in long lines to cast a ballot on day one of early voting. However, unlike my prediction of the drive to vote against Hillary Clinton, KHOU political analyst Bob Stein suggests something different which, if true, would bode well for Democrats, especially in local races.

Early voting numbers from other battleground states show Democrats with an early edge. Stein expects to see that trend continue here in Texas.  

"Republicans don't have a really extensive ground game," Stein said. "Some of the candidates do like Mr. Hickman and Michael Sullivan, but I don't see any evidence that there's a real mobilization on the Republican's part."  

Trump's unpopularity coupled with a rise in Hispanic voters could bode problematic for down ballot races in Harris County. Republican District Attorney Devon Anderson is down to Kim Ogg in recent polling, she's hoping she can mount a comeback despite the Trump effect at the top of the ticket.  "I expect Democrats to have a really good day," Stein said.

This logic works if the majority of voters are Hispanic and voting against Donald Trump, his proposed border wall, and former disparaging words directed at Mexicans. However that's not the entire electorate nor is it the majority. With Obamacare costs rising by 25% in Texas, it is hard to fathom people rushing out to vote for more idiotic economy crushing policies which will be exactly what we get with a Clinton presidency. According to KHOU most complaints reported were of long lines and misunderstanding about required voter id.

Of more concern is a different and alarming complaint which began surfacing last night of ballot shenanigans in which those voting straight Republican were noticing that the presidential selection was marking Clinton instead of Trump.  The grumbling began and others on Facebook chimed in sharing a similar experience.  

I did a little research and found out that a similar complaint surfaced during the TX Republican primary race. On Super Tuesday in March, floods of people called in to radio stations to complain that votes for Trump were being switched electronically before the actual ballot was cast. 

Again this morning, while listening to the Michael Berry Show (click here where this morning's podcast should be posted soon), several callers reported the same issue.  One caller said that his polling station had gone to paper ballots. If these allegations are true, everyone should be aware that if it can happen here, it can happen everywhere people vote in the 2016 election. If Hillary Clinton wins this election, it should be because the people voted more in support of her and not because their vote was erroneously changed electronically.

The takeaway is this - check the ballot carefully, especially when voting straight ticket. Review your selections to be sure the candidates you intend to vote for are actually being selected on your ballot before hitting the "cast vote" button.