RAYMONDVILLE — Elections officials mailed botched ballots to 68 Willacy County voters who requested mail-in ballots to vote in the March 1 Democratic primary election.
The Democratic Party’s ballot contains incorrect candidate listings for the state House of Representatives District 37 race.
On the ballot, the names of District 38’s candidates appear as District 37 candidates, Rose Clouston, the Democratic Party’s primary administrator in Austin, said.
Republican Party ballots weren’t affected, Wolf Chapa, the Willacy County Republican Party chairman, said.
By Wednesday afternoon, the 68 voters who were mailed botched ballots are expected to receive corrected ballots, Joe Vasquez, the county election’s office assistant, said.
Voters who have already mailed their ballots should mail their corrected ballots, Clouston said.
Tracing the source
On Monday, state and local officials were trying to determine the source of the problem.
By Monday afternoon, Sam Taylor, the Secretary of State’s office spokesman, said the Democratic Party chairs sent incorrect ballot information that appeared on Willacy County’s Democratic Party ballots.
“It’s the state and local party chairs that upload that information into our website portal,” he said. “The county party chair is the one who certifies the ballot order. It seems there was just a mistake.”
Meanwhile, Irene Cavazos, the Willacy County Democratic Party’s chairwoman, said she sent correct ballot information to the Secretary of State’s Office.
“The names were entered correctly,” she said. “I input them correctly. (The Secretary of State’s Office) received them correctly.”
However, she said she didn’t certify the ballot.
“I never approved a ballot order,” she said.
Instead, Clouston said she helped Cavazos with the ballot.
“There were a number of mistakes that led to this,” Clouston said. “The (Secretary of State’s website) portal did not list candidates for District 37 in Willacy County. Nobody in the Democratic Party was asked to proof the ballot. We certified a ballot order for Willacy County that didn’t include House District 37.”
Cavazos said the Secretary of State’s office was footing the bill for the new ballots.
Concerns stemming from botched mail-in, sample ballots
Last Friday, former Justice of the Peace George Solis brought the error to officials’ attention, Cavazos said.
Now, elections officials have little time to rectify problems resulting from voters’ confusion, said Solis, who received his botched mail-in ballot Friday morning.
“(Early voting) starts in a week,” he said, referring to the Feb. 14 start of the primary’s early voting period. “The window of opportunity closes.”
The botched ballot could cost candidates votes, he said.
“If you didn’t know any different, you vote for whoever’s there and you mail it in and you voted,” he said. “It’s a matter of democracy. Your right to vote is taken away.”
Solis said botched sample ballots also undermine the election process.
“The purpose of a sample ballot is to help citizens prepare themselves for elections — to read up and study candidates and prepare. The sample ballots have been out for weeks,” he said.
Measuring the scale
At the Secretary of State’s Office, Taylor said problems leading to botched ballots are common.
“Something like this happens every cycle at the local level,” he said.
However, Solis said he hadn’t come across the problem in Willacy County.
“I’ve been active in the Democratic Party for 50 years and I have never seen any error this serious occur on a ballot,” he said. “It makes the candidates look bad.”
