On Harrisvotes

From the where is the story department. Here is a headline from an online Chron story:

Dozens of protesters allege, without evidence, widespread fraud in Harris County elections

Here is the beginning of the story:

Dozens of protesters joined high-profile election deniers Steven Hotze and Weston Martinez Tuesday outside Harris County Commissioners Court where they alleged, without citing evidence, that there was widespread fraud in last week’s local elections.

Without citing evidence. Why even run this story? Where is the story?

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Sigh. Here is from a Chron story today:

Harris County Elections Administrator Cliff Tatum, speaking at length publicly for the first time since Election Day, pledged a complete assessment of voting issues Tuesday but said the county is in “dire need” of improvements to the way it conducts elections. 

And here is from the Chron E-Board today:

The secretary of state’s office shared that in the process of conducting its audit of election processes and procedure, it had referred information to Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg. “It is now in the hands of Attorney General Ken Paxton and DA Kim Ogg to investigate,” Sam Taylor, assistant secretary of state for communications shared via email.

Who’s right? Who’s truly got the best interests of voters and democracy in mind?

We wish we could say for sure. On one hand, we’ve got repeated mismanagement from Harris County elections officials and on the other, a lengthy record of Republican state leadership eager to restrict and cast doubt on the voting process, particularly in big, blue Harris County. Paxton is certainly not a disinterested or trusted party and, after a number of high-profile clashes with Democratic county leadership, Ogg hardly is either. We were among those calling on Harris County to get its act together first after the botched primary election and then again earlier this month.

Here is the entire E-Board take: We support a Harris Co. election investigation – not partisanship (houstonchronicle.com)

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Charles Kuffner has a good take on this and here it is:

Honestly, all things considered, I thought Election Day didn’t go as badly as some people are saying. There were some glitches, and for sure we could do a better job with the paper, but we’re talking twenty-some locations out of 782. One reason we have so many locations is to give people plenty of other options if the place they went to is having issues. It’s a pretty small percentage, and so far as I can tell, no one has come forward to say that they were prevented from voting. Even more, the obvious remedy to voting locations that opened late or had to shut down for a period while paper issues were being sorted would have been to allow voting to go on for some extra time, so that anyone who was unable to get to another location and could not return before 7 PM would still have a chance to vote. Which the Texas Organizing Project and the Texas Civil Rights Project sought to do and got an order from a district court judge, which was then opposed by Ken Paxton and shot down by the Supreme Court. You can’t have it both ways.

The Elections Office is going to have to make its mandated reports. There was already going to be an audit of the November election, in case anyone has forgotten. Paxton is going to do whatever he’s going to do. If the local GOP is claiming that there was some kind of conspiracy to make it harder for Republicans to vote – pro tip: never believe a word Andy Taylor says – all I can say is good luck proving intent. Until shown otherwise, this all looks like a bunch of hot air and sour grapes. The Trib, the Chron, and the Press have more.

Here is all from Charles: This is all so dumb – Off the Kuff.

Commentary will say it again. I support the creation of the Elections Administrator Office.  They just need to get their act together. Too much bumbling and stumbling.

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Speaking of Charles, I endorse his take on the state of the Texas Democratic Party here:

Here’s what I think: I think we are not the ones that should be judging our performance. I think it’s past time to get some outside eyes in here and have a look at how we operate and what assumptions we make and what things we don’t do and render their opinion on it. Form a committee of politics knowers and doers from other states and let them at it. I’m thinking group of people from other mostly purple states, which is the status we are aiming for, with a diversity of ages, geographies (i.e., urban, suburban, exurban, rural), races, and expertises. I’d like to have folks from Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, and Georgia. I want a top to bottom look at everything, a set of reports that clearly states what we do well and what we don’t do well, and recommendations for action. I want it then to be shared with the SDEC, county parties, clubs and organizations, and affiliated friendly groups. Do whatever it takes to get the money to pay for all this, and then let it rip.

This may be impossible to do for any number of reasons. It may be that there are only medium-to-long term solutions available. It may be that we can’t really move forward without federal action on the border and immigration, which may very well involve legislative solutions that we Texas Democrats won’t like. It’s also super easy for an idiot on the Internet like me to propose such things. All I can say, after too many years of having the same feelings after the election, is that my first reaction upon seeing the headline to this story was “oh, not, not another one of these”. I personally would like to see us try something different this time. Take that for whatever it’s worth.

Here is all of the Off the Kuff take: One weird trick for maybe doing better with the next election – Off the Kuff.

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Donald Trump announced last night.  Racism and hate continue to be front and center within the GOP.

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Dusty Baker ended up in fourth place for AL Manager of the Year.

Justin Verlander is favored to win the AL Cy Young Award today. 

We will see.