US Representative Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, claimed on Tuesday that Republicans tried to rig her primary race against moderate Texas State Rep James Talarico, District 50, after the Texas Supreme Court ruled in an emergency decision against her campaign’s request to give voters from Dallas County an extension to sort out confusion about Republican-led changes to polling locations.
On Tuesday, Republicans and Democrats did not hold joint primaries, leading to polling location restrictions that Democrats, like Crockett, claimed were disenfranchising voters.
Crockett’s claims came after the Texas Supreme Court knocked down a lower judge’s ruling to keep polling places open longer, mandating that any votes cast after the initial closing time be separated. Democrats pushed for polling locations to be open longer amid polling location restrictions that resulted from Republicans and Democrats not holding joint primaries.
“Knowing that Dallas County is a big dump of votes, we, in my opinion, will not know the election results overall tonight,” Crockett told supporters who gathered to celebrate her potential victory.
“So, that’s my news, is that we’re not going to have election results tonight, in my opinion, based upon what specifically is taking place in Dallas County. Unfortunately, this is what Republicans like to do. And, so, they specifically targeted Dallas County, and I think we all know why.”
The Texas High Court’s decision to undo a lower court’s ruling from earlier in the night that had given voters in Dallas County until 9.00 pm to cast their ballot instructed tabulators to disregard votes that came in after 7.00 pm.
“I can tell you now that people have been disenfranchised,” Crockett told supporters at a campaign event on Tuesday evening as the courts’ back-and-forth played out. “In my opinion, we will not know the election results overall tonight.”
Voters ran into confusion on Tuesday evening amid the decision of certain counties, including Dallas, to separate out the locations where voters could cast ballots for Republican and Democrat primaries.
Under Texas law, party leaders can object to conducting their primaries together, at the same locations and through the same equipment. For Tuesday’s primaries, counties like Houston decided to forgo joint primaries to protect against crossover voting, fearing that holding Republican and Democratic elections at the same locations could invite sabotage.
Meanwhile, voters in Texas can also participate in any primary without party registration due to it hosting open primaries.
“They specifically targeted Dallas County, and I think we all know why,” Crockett said Tuesday night.
