HOUSTON, Texas (PNN) - February 5, 2023 - Texas Governor Greg Abbott called for a new election in Harris County, Texas, after ballot issues were more widespread than officials had estimated them to be.

In response to an analysis that found there was a ballot paper shortage that was far larger than previously reported, the governor said, “it’s so big it may have altered the outcome of elections.”

“It may necessitate new elections,” Abbott also wrote. “It will necessitate new laws that prevent Harris County from ever again doing this.”

Abbott was responding to an analysis suggesting that Harris County allotted ballot paper packets that were enough for 600 ballots to each of the county’s 121 voting centers. However, the analysis found that the total number of votes that were cast exceeded that amount by upwards of hundreds of ballots in some instances.

Previously, Harris County had said that 46 to 68 centers ran out of their allotted ballot paper. The county’s elections administration released a report last month that admitted there were problems during the November 8 midterms, but it said that a full report will take months to complete.

Harris County Elections Administrator Clifford Tatum said that this cast a cloud into the community that those locations ran out of paper.

“There were over 4 million sheets of paper in the street on Election Day,” he also remarked, suggesting there was no shortage.

In November’s report, officials in the county - which includes Houston - some 170 of 782 locations weren’t able to complete their planned setups on November 7 due to the Houston Astros World Series parade that was held the day before. The report did not specify which locations were impacted by the parade.

“Overall, while initial media reports suggested a problem more extensive than what the Election Administrator Office has been able to confirm, the EAO will continue reviewing the processes and will implement systems to ensure this type of challenge is never encountered in the future,” the report said.

The report noted that paper ballot jams and inaccurate wait time updates caused issues at some polling locations.

“Our investigation has not yet revealed how many of these [voting centers] had to turn voters away due to a paper shortage,” the report stated. “Media reports claimed that a total of 24 VCs (3.1%) ran out of paper and had to turn away voters.”

But it claimed that “the judges at the VCs indicated that they did receive supplemental paper deliveries, and two of these [presiding judges] from these VCs reported they did not run out of paper at all.”

Harris County’s elections divisions did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Harris County District Attorney Kim Ogg announced in November, meanwhile, that she was mandated to open an investigation into the midterm election after requests from Abbott and the Texas secretary of state’s office. A letter dated November 14 from the secretary of state’s office told Ogg that it is now attempting to review “possible unlawful conduct regarding the handling of blank paper ballots” during the contest.

Based on interviews with local election judges, the office said Harris County might have violated two sections in the Texas Election Code. In 16 locations that were reviewed by the secretary of state’s office, according to the letter, five of them ran out of ballots and had to turn away voters.

“From the information we have been given, it appears that most of these locations requested paper early in the day but did not receive timely delivery,” the letter said.

In the meantime, the Harris County Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the county and Tatum, arguing that several provisions were violated under the Texas Election Code during the November 8 midterms.