Dallas-area congresswoman Julie Johnson is making a renewed push for a bill that would require counties to notify voters when their polling locations change, citing problems in Dallas County caused by what one judge called "mass confusion" on Election Day.
The Voter Outreach for Transparent Elections — or VOTE — Act would modify existing election law to require a state to notify a voter by mail and phone of their new polling place at least seven days before the election.
Election offices would also be required to post notices of the change on their websites and social media pages, and at physical locations.
"I felt like it was really important that we have a federal standard by how polling places should be notified to the voters," Johnson told KERA. "This bill really simply just requires notification to the voter seven days before an election if their polling places are different."
The push comes after thousands of voters were turned away at the polls on Election Day after showing up at the wrong location.
Last year, the Dallas County Republican Party decided not to run joint primary polling sites with Democrats, meaning voters had to go to their assigned precinct locations instead of voting at any countywide vote center — a system that had been used for several election cycles.
Johnson blamed the decision on party leadership, including chairman Allen West, for contributing to the confusion.
"We all saw this coming," Johnson said. "There was just a lot of confusion about it."
West has pushed back on those claims.
"This whole thing about the Democrats being confused — I think that was a very weak excuse to do what they did," he said.
Precinct locations were finalized less than two weeks before Election Day, and the county's website that listed polling locations temporarily crashed as voters tried to confirm where to vote.
Johnson argued precinct-only voting can make elections harder for voters to navigate.
"It causes confusion amongst the voters, because the place has changed from cycle to cycle," she said.
The confusion prompted Dallas County District Judge Staci Williams to order polling hours extended from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. in Dallas County. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton appealed the decision to the Texas Supreme Court, arguing his office had not been notified of the extension, and the state's highest civil court temporarily blocked the lower court's ruling. Justices ordered ballots cast by voters in line after 7 p.m. to be set aside separately.
It is still unclear whether those ballots will ultimately be counted.
Johnson said the confusion seen in Dallas County could happen again if election systems change without clear communication to all voters.
"Republicans and Democrats alike had a lot of frustrations on Tuesday casting their ballot," she said. "We should have a system that encourages people to be able to vote easily.”
Additional reporting by Marina Trahan Martinez.
Dylan Duke and Emmanuel Rivas are KERA's Breaking News Reporters. Got a tip? Email Dylan at dduke@kera.org or Emmanuel at erivas@kera.org.
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