Georgetown Edition | April 2026

Election

BY GRACIE WARHURST

Ocials reevaluate voting procedures for primary runo outlined procedures, Escobedo said. This resulted in delays, missing documentation and longer hours for election workers. One major issue was the 177 ballot bins from the Republican Party that were not properly documented, Escobedo said.

County ocials, party leaders and voters unpacked what went wrong on the March primary election day, and detailed the changes residents can expect when they return to the polls, during a March 24 special meeting called by Williamson County commissioners. What happened Because of the shift to precinct-level voting for the March 3 primary election day, the county had to secure and equip a larger number of polling locations on a shorter timeline. Additionally, both parties struggled to fully sta these locations, Williamson County Elections Administrator Bridgette Escobedo said. Many voters arrived at the wrong location, drove to multiple sites and faced wait times of up to two to three hours, according to multiple accounts from election day voters at the meeting. What else? The parties faced individual challenges on election day that also added to the need for procedural changes. The Republican Party, which chose to use pre- printed and hand-marked paper ballots rather than electronic machines, experienced a ballot supply shortage from their vendor days before the election, Republican Party Chair Michelle Evans said. Furthermore, 50 voters mistakenly cast “feder- al-only” ballots due to a mix of human error and missing ballot activation codes on the electronic machines, ocials said. The outcome The central count process on election night experienced signicant deviations from the

“[Elections] should be accessible,

open and fair. ... We cannot undo what happened on March 3, but we can, and must, make sure it never happens again,” PAUL STEMPKO, DEMOCRATIC PARTY FIRST VICE CHAIR

Many ballots had to be xed by the sta because of irregular markings that would have otherwise been caught by the polling place scanners, Esc- obedo said. “My sta and I spent over 30 hours without sleep on election day and the day after to nish the counting process,” Escobedo said. Additionally, two election judges misplaced 69 Republican ballots into boxes intended for provisional and spoiled ballots, which were not discovered and counted until a week later, accord- ing to previous Community Impact reporting. Conspiracies about intentional election fraud were perpetuated online, including a video Precinct 4 Commissioner Russ Boles said was altered that falsely accused Escobedo of tampering with clocks and ballots. The resulting backlash led to death threats, harassing phone calls and individuals attempting to forcefully enter the elections oce, requiring Escobedo to be sequestered under police escort, she said. “I am appalled,” Boles said. “I don’t know how many generations of Texan I am, but I have lived in Williamson County for 50 years, and this is disgust- ing. I just cannot believe that it is here.” Looking ahead Both local party chairs agreed the outcome of election day stemmed from fundamental changes in how voting was conducted. The Republican

“I am glad I did not have to vote to

canvas this election because I would not have voted to canvas this election.

If we’re doing this for election integrity, this is just—it’s bewildering on every level.”

RUSS BOLES, PRECINCT 4 COMMISSIONER

Party’s switch to precinct-based voting changed how the election was conducted for the rst time since 2013. Both parties have agreed to return to countywide voting for the upcoming primary runo May 26. Voters will be able to vote at any Williamson County polling location, and both parties have agreed to share locations to reduce confusion and share resources. However, the parties will not run a joint election, meaning voters will use two separate lines and check-ins.

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