On Wednesday afternoon, Williamson County released a statement regarding election operation and court orders that extended polling operations at two polling places until 10 p.m. Tuesday evening.
"Approximately 20 minutes before the regular poll closing time of 7 p.m., the Texas Civil Rights Project filed a lawsuit against Williamson County and the Democratic and Republican party chairs seeking to extend voting at two polling locations: Georgetown Annex and Northstar Georgetown. Both locations experienced long lines on Election Day," the statement reads.
"Earlier in the day, the Williamson County Elections Office offered additional equipment to the Republican and Democratic parties to help reduce wait times. The Democratic Party accepted the offer.
"At 7 p.m., approximately 150 to 200 people were waiting in line. As required by law, election workers at those locations placed a marker behind the last voter who arrived before 7 p.m. Approximately 30 minutes later, the plaintiffs obtained a hearing before District Judge Betsy Lambeth. A new law requires one hour notice of the hearing to be provided to the Office of the Attorney General. While an attorney from the Attorney General’s Office attended the hearing, the office objected to the lack of the required hour notice. The remaining parties consented to extending polling hours until 10 p.m. at the affected locations. Voters casting ballots after 7 p.m. were required to vote provisionally as required by law.
"Judge Lambeth granted the extension over the Attorney General’s objections and additionally ordered the Williamson County elections administrator to delay the publication of early voting results until 10 p.m.
"By that time, the Republican election judge at the location had already closed the polling place and arrived at the Elections Office. Judge Lambeth ordered him to return to the polling location until 10 p.m. Democratic polling locations did not close because voters were still waiting in line.
"At approximately 9:45 p.m., the Office of the Attorney General filed a writ of mandamus with the Texas Supreme Court against Judge Lambeth seeking to overturn her order due to the notice issue.
"At 10:11 p.m., the Texas Supreme Court issued an order suspending the effect of Judge Lambeth’s ruling pending a decision by the court. As a result, votes cast by individuals who arrived in line after 7 p.m. will not be counted unless the Supreme Court rules otherwise."
Original story published March 3, at 8:30 p.m.
Two Williamson County polling locations have been court ordered to remain open until 10 p.m. tonight, according at an 8:30 p.m. news release by the county.
Northstar Georgetown, 2401 Westinghouse Road, Georgetown, a Democratic Primary polling location, and Georgetown Annex, 100 Wilco Way, Georgetown, for both the Democratic and Republican primaries, will be open until 10 p.m. Anyone in line before 10 p.m. will have an opportunity to vote.
According to the county, all votes cast after 7 p.m. are provisional ballots according to Election Code. Because provisional ballots take additional time to process, none of the votes cast during extended polling hours will be processed tonight. They will be reported with other provisional voters on the Monday following the elections.