Harris County

Tuesday is Election Day in Texas, and the election administrator’s office has already had difficulty with counting ballots and releasing election results. The office is anticipating more challenges amid push back from the county’s Republican party.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staffers are accused of unfairly awarding a contract to a politically connected vendor during the pandemic. Hidlago says it’s an attempt to hurt her career.

Hidalgo has not been indicted, and has denied any wrongdoing.

The outage prevented detainees from appearing in front of a judge within a state-required time frame, leading to the mass release.

Across the state, people are waiting hours in line to get tested and seeing delayed results as cities and counties deal with a testing shortage.

Auditors are now asking for information from four urban counties, including one that went for Trump. Trump won the state in 2020.

The agency did not explain why it was auditing results in Collin, Dallas, Harris and Tarrant counties. Its announcement came hours after former President Donald Trump asked that an election audit bill be added to a special legislative session agenda.

Despite the governor’s insistence that “now is the time for personal responsibility,” mayors, county judges and other officials across Texas are trying to take back local control.

The money is administered by the state’s General Land Office, whose formula for making allocations leaves the state’s largest county out of the money.

Officials in Travis and Harris counties — both early adopters of pandemic restrictions — rolled some back Tuesday in an effort to allow vaccinated residents to return to pre-pandemic living.

The five members of Harris County Commissioners Court unanimously approved the resolution in support of the pardon request, which was submitted last month to the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. The board still must decide whether to recommend a pardon, and Gov. Greg Abbott will have the final say.

Turner was fatally shot in 2019 by a police officer in the Houston suburb of Baytown, Texas, after a struggle over his stun gun. Attorney Ben Crump is also representing Turner’s family in a federal civil rights lawsuit filed April 8.