UPDATE: Emergency appeal filed to Texas Supreme Court Over Severe GOP Deficiencies at Travis County Polling Locations
UPDATE: The Texas Supreme Court stated it did not have enough time to review the information submitted and turned down our appeal. However, we have trained poll watchers at most voting locations across Travis County, and we will be present at Central Counting through the entire process. Your vote is safer than ever thanks to Republican-led efforts this year! If you suspect election fraud please let us know and contact the Texas Secretary of State’s office vote fraud hotline at 1(800) 252-8683.
Travis County Republican Party Chairman Matt Mackowiak issued the below press release this afternoon (Nov. 1). Questions may be directed to him at chair@travisgop.com.
TCRP Chair Mackowiak Files Appeal to Texas Supreme Court to Correct Severe Deficiency in GOP Staffing of Polling Locations on Tuesday
Some Election Day Voting Locations Have Zero GOP Workers Assigned in Violation of State Law
AUSTIN (Nov. 1, 2024) — Travis County Republican Party (TCRP) chair Matt Mackowiak today announced that TCRP has filed an appeal to the Texas Supreme Court of their emergency petition against the Travis County Elections Department to address severe deficiencies in the bipartisan staffing of polling locations. The 3rd Court of Appeals quietly dismissed the original petition on Wednesday due to ‘mootness’, without notifying the lawyer who filed it or the filer directly.
With the assistance of attorney Donna Davidson, TCRP chair Mackowiak filed the Texas Supreme Court appeal today, seeking to have Travis County Elections be forced to place available Republican workers at election locations for Election Day which are currently not staffed in a bipartisan way.
Before the 3rd Court of Appeals petition, TCRP Chair Mackowiak filed a formal complaint with the Office of the Attorney General and the Secretary of State early last week.
“It is totally unacceptable that large portions of our county have no Republican election judges assigned, despite our providing far more than the number of available workers needed,” said Mackowiak. “The ‘mootness’ reason cited by the 3rd Court of Appeals can reasonably apply to Early Voting which ends today, but it cannot reasonably apply to Election Day, which is Tuesday. As long as I am TCRP chair, we will hold local government accountable when they violate our rights and risk election integrity. This is an egregious example, and we look forward to having our day in court.”
As is documented in the original emergency filing, the Travis County Elections Department ignored repeated requests from TCRP for polling location staffing only delivering the information just four days before the start of early voting. The received information shows a severe lack of Republican presence at Early Voting and Election Day polling locations.
The Travis County Elections Department has ignored Texas election code requiring at a bare minimum the staffing of Republican Alternate Judges at each polling location from a provided list of Republican poll workers.
Currently ten (24%) of Early Voting polling locations have zero Republican alternate judges and an additional 50% have zero Republican poll workers either for the morning or evening shifts. Election Day fairs worse with 72 (41%) of polling locations having zero Republican poll workers assigned.
Even though Travis County was provided with a required list of over 900 potential Republican election workers they have only hired a small fraction of Republican poll workers.
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ORIGINAL RELEASE:
Severe Deficiency in GOP Staffing of Polling Locations
Nearly ¼ of Early Voting Locations Have No GOP Alternate Judge Despite List of 900 Provided
AUSTIN (Oct. 29, 2024) — Travis County Republican Party (TCRP) chair Matt Mackowiak today announced that TCRP has filed an emergency petition against the Travis County Elections Division to address severe deficiencies in the bipartisan staffing of polling locations.
TCRP chair Mackowiak filed a formal complaint with the Office of the Attorney General and the Secretary of State last week.
“It is totally unacceptable that large portions of our county have no Republican election judges assigned, despite our providing far more than the number of available workers needed,” said Mackowiak. “As long as I am TCRP chair, we will hold local government accountable when they violate our rights and risk election integrity. This is an egregious example, and we look forward to our day in court.”
As is documented in the filing, the Travis County Elections Department ignored repeated requests from TCRP for polling location staffing only delivering the information just four days before the start of early voting. The received information shows a severe lack of Republican presence at Early Voting and Election Day polling locations.
The Travis County Elections Department has ignored Texas election code requiring at a bare minimum the staffing of Republican Alternate Judges at each polling location from a provided list of Republican poll workers.
Currently ten (24%) of Early Voting polling locations have zero Republican alternate judges and an additional 50% have zero Republican poll workers either for the morning or evening shifts. Election Day fairs worse with 72 (41%) of polling locations having zero Republican poll workers assigned.
Even though Travis County was provided with a required list of over 900 potential Republican election workers they have only hired a small fraction of Republican poll workers.
“The Texas Election Code requires a fair and equal distribution of election judges from both political parties to monitor and work the election polling centers for both early and election day voting,” said Brenham-based attorney Andy Taylor, who prepared the filing in conjunction with the Republican National Committee where he is outside counsel. “Travis County has refused to do that, so we filed a lawsuit this morning to force them to comply. Election integrity starts with what happens at the polls, and we stand ready to ensure that fairness occurs every step of the way.”
To learn more about the Travis County GOP, please visit http://www.TravisGOP.com.
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