Nearly 10K Votes Uncounted in Texas Primary Due to 'Oversight': Officials

Election officials in Harris County, which contains Houston and is the most populous county in Texas, have announced that about 10,000 mail-in ballots were scanned into the tabulation computer but not added to the official result counts in last week's primary election.

The votes, about 6,000 for Democratic races and 4,000 for Republican races, will be added to the official count on Tuesday, which The Texas Tribune estimated could have an impact on at least two Democratic races.

Harris County officials said the error took place between 1 a.m. and 4 a.m. when representatives from both parties who make up the Central Count Committee were reviewing the ballots. They said the county has been in contact with the Texas secretary of state's office to determine why and how the error occurred.

"While we understand the seriousness of this error, the ability to identify and correct this issue is a result of a lengthy, rigorous process and is a positive example of the process ultimately working as it should," the county officials said.

The Texas Tribune identified at least two races that could be affected by the new votes, including one district's state House Democratic primary race that currently has a gap of 136 votes between two candidates.

The Democratic primary for Texas attorney general could also be impacted regarding which candidate will face former American Civil Liberties Union attorney Rochelle Garza in an upcoming runoff election, considering that two candidates, one in the runoff and one currently not in it, are separated by just over 1,400 votes.

Harris County, which has a larger population than dozens of states at 4.73 million people, reported several other issues on the day of the election, including damaged ballots, a shortage of elections workers and other technical problems with voting machines at polling locations, the Tribune reported.

The issue came to light over the weekend as the secretary of state's office informed the county of a discrepancy of 10,072 ballots between the unofficial counts and the number of votes cast, according to the Houston Chronicle.

County officials were also made aware of a precinct judge who allegedly failed to immediately return a voting machine to the county election center after polls closed, which contributed to Harris County races taking over 24 hours to call, the Chronicle added.

"While delays are inconvenient and require a significant amount of resources to remedy, the security of the ballot is at no point in question," Harris County Elections spokesperson Leah Shah told the Chronicle. "From the moment a judge takes possession of the election equipment prior to election day, to the moment they return equipment on election night, there is a chain of custody and numerous safeguards in place to ensure the security of the ballot."

Update 3/7/22 5:43 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information and context.