Texas Democratic Party: Moving Texas Forward

Below is a statement from Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie regarding the U.S. Department of Justice ruling, granting Dallas County pre-clearance on its voting machines.

“We turned to the Department of Justice out of frustration over the Texas Secretary of State’s unwillingness to correct a glitch in voting machines that are programmed to count votes differently than the way they are counted on paper and absentee ballots. We believe this programming defect disproportionately impacts minority voters.

“Although the DOJ ruled the voting machine defect does not discriminate against minorities, we still believe electronic machines are incorrectly programmed, making it more difficult for all voters to cast a vote with confidence that it will be counted as they intended.

“A Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial stated, ‘Why this problem could not have been foreseen and, indeed, corrected is beyond our comprehension. Surely the machines could have been programmed to treat the electronic ballot the same as the paper one in the way a vote is counted. The blame lies with election officials for allowing such a flawed system to be used in the first place.’ [Fort Worth Star Telegram, 12/6/2008]

“The Texas Democratic Party is considering the ruling and will continue to fight for the right of every voter to cast a ballot that counts.”