County election officials completed counting any overseas and provisional ballots by today (Wednesday) and uploaded their updated numbers to the Secretary of State. County parties canvass the primary vote tomorrow (Thursday). At that point, the vote totals become official, and candidates may ask for recounts or file suits challenging the election results.
Don
Zimmerman
Justin
Berry
HD47: One vote still separates the second- and third-place finishers in the Republican primary, but the candidates have switched positions. Justin Berry now leads former Austin council member Don Zimmerman by 1 vote. Berry received six of the 10 overseas and provisional ballots counted in the race. Once the results are canvassed tomorrow (Thursday), Zimmerman will have the opportunity to request a recount. Jennifer Fleck will face either Berry or Zimmerman in the runoff.
CD31: Dan Janjigian, who finished 6th in the six-way Democratic primary (4%), endorsed Donna Imam in the Democratic runoff over Christine Mann.
Dallas Co. Recount: Dallas Co. election officials counted more than 9K ballots from 44 tabulating machines that had been overlooked on Election Day, and the results did not change the outcomes of any primary races. Nearly 7K of those ballots were cast in the Democratic primary, and just over 2K were cast in the Republican primary.
Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole requested a judge’s approval to count the votes after her team found a discrepancy between the number of voters who had checked in to vote and the number of votes counted on Election Day. District Judge Emily Tobolowsky granted that request yesterday (Tuesday).
Houston: The First Court of Appeals has denied requests to expedite the legal process and dismiss the lawsuit filed by the third-place finisher in November’s District B election challenging the eligibility of the second-place finisher. The runoff election, which was originally scheduled for December 2019 and was recently re-scheduled for May 2, is on hold for at least four more months.
Renee Jefferson-Smith’s suit claims that Cynthia Bailey should be ineligible because of a 2007 felony theft conviction. The parties will now exchange briefs on a schedule for how the appeal will proceed. Meanwhile, council member Jerry Davis, who qualified for the Democratic runoff against Rep. Harold Dutton (D-Houston), will continue to serve until his successor is elected.
In November, District Judge Dedra Davis denied Jefferson-Smith’s suit to remove Bailey from the ballot. She filed a second lawsuit later that month. District Judge Grant Dorfman ruled against Jefferson-Smith and ordered the runoff election to be held on May 2. Harris Co. election officials have said they needed resolution of the case by this week in order to print ballots for a May 2 election date.
Tarsha Jackson finished first in the November election with 21% of the vote, followed by Bailey (14%) and Jefferson-Smith (13%).
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