Texas Primary: Attorney speaks on confusion after Texas Supreme Court blocks votes cast late
Texas Supreme Court blocks polling hours extension
Williamson County was at the focus of primary election night controversy after a judge ordered certain polling locations to extend voting hours.
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Texas - Williamson County was at the focus of primary election night controversy after a judge ordered certain polling locations to extend voting hours.
The Texas Supreme Court has now stepped in to suspend that extension, which means some votes cast on Tuesday night will no longer count.
2026 Texas primaries: Late votes cast at 2 WilCo polling places will not be counted
The Texas Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the counting of votes cast late at two Williamson County polling locations.
What we know:
Confusion from some voters began with the introduction of new voting procedures in Williamson County, as county Republicans elected to replace centralized voting, meaning both Republicans and Democrats would not be able to vote at the polling location of their choice, but rather have to cast their ballot at their assigned precinct.
About 20 minutes before polls closed at 7 p.m., the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit against Williamson County and the Democratic and Republican Party chairs as they sought to extend voting at two polling locations: Georgetown Annex and Northstar Georgetown, which experienced long times on Election Day.
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When polls closed, the county claims 150–200 people were waiting in line. As required by law, election workers at those locations placed a marker behind the last voter who arrived before 7 p.m.
Around 30 minutes later, the Texas Civil Rights Project obtained a hearing before District Judge Betsy Lambeth. This hearing was objected to by the Office of the Attorney General, who referred to a law that they must be given a one-hour notice of a hearing. An attorney from the Attorney General’s Office was present at the meeting, but the remaining parties consented to extending polling hours until 10 p.m. at the affected locations.
What they're saying:
"The judge considered all the arguments, considered the equities, and decided that, in the interest of justice, it made sense to extend the polling hours until 10 p.m.," says Veronikah Warms, the voting rights policy attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project.
She claims that with the new precinct-only voting procedures, voters had no other option but to wait in excessive lines at certain polling locations.
"Voters who were assigned to the precinct for the Georgetown Annex or for the Northstar polling location had nowhere else to go," says Warms. "We had voters that were waiting two plus hours in line to cast a ballot that counted on election day. So, in that situation, it was only fair that voters have a little bit more time to get in line, stay in line and cast a vote that counts."
Dig deeper:
Around 9:45 p.m., on Tuesday, the Office of the Attorney General filed a writ of mandamus with the Texas Supreme Court against Judge Lambeth, seeking to overturn her order due to the notice issue.
At 10:11 p.m., the Texas Supreme Court issued an order suspending Judge Lambeth’s ruling to extend voting hours. As a result, votes that were cast by those who arrived in line after 7 p.m. will not be counted unless the Supreme Court rules otherwise.
Texas Supreme Court blocks voting time extension in Dallas County
Just before that extension ended, the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked the order, saying voting should only happen "as permitted."
The issue drew criticism from Democratic Senate candidate, Jasmine Crockett, whose home county of Dallas County experienced similar controversy.
"I'm here to say, regardless of whether it's close or not, this is wrong. If one person has the right to vote, and they aren't allowed to cast their vote, we should all be standing together," she said at a Tuesday night watch party.
Her opponent and Democratic Senate nominee, James Talarico, also voiced his frustration with the confusion.
"Every vote must be counted, every voice must be heard. The voter suppression in my home county and in Congresswoman Crockett’s home county underscores the gravity of this moment," Talarico said.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Marco Bitonel and previous coverage