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Voter check-in issues fixed in Bell County, polls closed at 8 p.m.

Posted at 8:18 PM, Nov 08, 2022
and last updated 2022-11-08 21:18:16-05

BELL COUNTY, Texas — Bell County delayed the start of Election Day voting due to technical issues.

Around 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday poll books in the county, used to check voters in, read the wrong time when county officials tested the equipment.

Voting polls were closed to solve the issue said Dr. Desi Roberts Bell County elections administrator once they learned of the problem. The issue had to be fixed manually, expediting the reboot process.

“The e-poll books does not have anything to do with an individual casting their ballot, those are not voting machines," said Dr. Desi Roberts. "Those are the little computers where you give your ID card and they check you in. I want to reassure that the safety and security of our elections system in Bell County at this point is safe. We are secure and we are proactive in maintaining that security and integrity of the vote.”

Bell County officials said they were able to fix the timing issue voters would have experienced during the check-in process to cast their ballots.

One voter we spoke with, that did not want to be identified, said she still had an issue even after the problem was corrected.

“I showed them my ID card and my registration card they ran it through the system and they said that I had to vote provisional and I asked them why that would be and they ran it a second time and it went through," she said.

"The Texas Secretary of State’s office can confirm that Bell County contacted our office today and indicated they will be seeking a court order to extend voting hours to 8 p.m. Only a Texas district court can grant such an extension, not our office, so Bell County is taking the appropriate legal action to do so," said a statement from the Texas Secretary of State.