HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Hours before the polls were scheduled to close for the Texas primary runoff, the Harris County Republican Party filed an emergency lawsuit to stop the way the Harris County's election administrator planned to deliver Tuesday's election results.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Earlier we reported the Texas Supreme Court rejected the Harris County GOP's lawsuit, but we have learned that the lawsuit is still pending.
Harris County Elections Administrator Isabel Longoria plans on using constables and deputized county employees to deliver election results quicker, minimizing the lag that happened during the March 1 primary.
The Harris County GOP claims this plan is illegal and said in a lawsuit that the Texas Election Code requires that "election officers" deliver sealed ballots to the central counting station.
If the Texas Supreme Court sides with the Harris County GOP, this could delay how quickly Harris County will get Tuesday's election results.
The elections administrator's office had this to say in response to the lawsuit:
"The Harris County Republican Party has been aware of these plans for weeks and voiced no concerns. Waiting until just days before the election, HCRP notified the Elections Administrator’s Office of their intent to undermine the drop-off process, thus threatening the ability of our office to efficiently process election equipment and deliver timely results. Now, on Election Day, they’ve filed a frivolous lawsuit in an effort to sow additional chaos into an otherwise carefully-orchestrated system. The party cannot continue to undermine the election process at each turn and then blame the Elections Office for the ramifications. The party should act in good faith and work with the elections office, or start taking responsibility for the consequences of their actions."
Harris County Attorney Christian Menefee said the Harris County GOP should be ashamed, also saying the Harris County GOP knew of these plans and intentionally waited until the day of the election to ask the court to "throw plans out the window."
"And in their lawsuit, they flat out misrepresent the county’s plans to the court, making several statements that they know are demonstrably false," Menefee said. "This lawsuit is nothing more than a shameful attempt to throw county employees into disarray and undermine the integrity of our elections. The Harris County Republican Party has made clear they are more interested in misleading the public and filing dishonest and frivolous lawsuits than in working in conjunction with the county to ensure a smooth election night drop off and reporting process.”
The polls for the Texas primary runoff close at 7 p.m.