HOUSTON — The Harris County Clerk’s Office issued a statement Tuesday morning after it appeared that District Attorney Kim Ogg had issues casting a ballot in the March Primary Election.
Ogg is running for reelection and faces a tough challenge from former HCDAO employee Sean Teare in the Democratic primary.
When Ogg went to the Love Park Community Center Tuesday morning to try and cast her vote, data showed someone had already voted under her name.
It turned out that when Ogg's partner, who lives at the same address, voted last week, it was under Ogg's name instead of her own.
"In this instance, DA Ogg's partner must have not noticed that the information was not hers and proceeded to sign in under DA Ogg's name," Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth explained. "We believe this is the case because DA Ogg's partner signed her own name as confirmation."
But Ogg said the error should have been discovered by an election worker.
“There is no user error in voting. It’s up to election judges and the workers at the polls to ensure that a voter’s identification matches who they are – so, I think that blaming the user is not fair," the DA said.
Ogg said she's concerned that a similar issue could impact other voters who might not have the option of waiting or returning later to vote.
"The average citizen probably would not have waited an hour and still not able to vote," Ogg said. "When I left and I worried that people have to pick up kids, be at work, if they have such problems, I urge them to exercise patience, but I’m concerned voters might be turned off by this mistake and leave."
Ogg was offered a provisional ballot but said she declined that offer. She later returned to cast her ballot.
Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth full statement:
“An incident occurred this morning when DA Kim Ogg went to the polls and was unable to cast a ballot because a ballot had already been cast in her name. Last Friday, DA Ogg’s partner, who is registered to vote at the same address as DA Ogg, voted in the primary elections under DA Ogg’s name.
“In the process of qualifying a voter, each voter is asked to review and confirm the information that appears on the iPad screen, including the voter’s name. If the information that appears on the screen is not accurate, the voter must notify the election clerk. In this instance, the DA’s partner must not have noticed that the information was not hers and proceeded to sign in and vote under DA Ogg’s name. We believe this is the case because Ogg’s partner signed her own name as confirmation.
“Clerical errors can occur at the polls. It is the voter’s responsibility to verify that their information on the iPad screen is correct before they are issued a poll code.
“We were able to assist DA Ogg with rectifying this voter error so she can cast her ballot. The vote that DA Ogg’s partner cast has been transferred to her own name, and DA Ogg has been able to vote since 8:24 this morning, though she has not done so yet.”
Ogg said it’s not clear just yet if her partner's vote will actually be counted, but hopes it's all figured out in time.