Early election is underway, Election day is November 7.
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Many veteran election judges said they're returning for duty despite recent changes and challenges to election administration. This comes as welcome news, given that Harris County will need 1,400 election judges to run its estimated 700 polling locations in the upcoming November election.
Another law went into effect that creates a provision for the state to remove those elected officials if a “recurring pattern of problems” is not rectified.
But the county's elections have been under increased scrutiny for years, dramatically escalating this year with state legislation eliminating its elections office, pending litigation challenging the results of last year's November election and an ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers and the Harris County District Attorney's Office into a ballot paper shortage last year that had workers scrambling at a small percentage of the county's polling sites.
In addition to those developments, election judges have had to contend with several leadership changes — Hudspeth is the sixth person in six years to run Harris County elections — and new voting equipment, which debuted in 2021 but still presents some difficulties with processing a lengthy two-page ballot.
Despite the title, an election judge isn't a judicial position. Ordinary citizens — such as retirees, teachers and lawyers — are trained to run Harris County's polling locations while voting is underway. During a general election, like the one coming up in November, each polling place needs one judge from each party, in addition to a small staff of paid election workers supporting them.
For More:
- Harris County’s voter roll errors — if left unexplained — could fuel claims of voter fraud.
