Precinct Chair Barry Wernick, a Republican, alleged that an amendment to the party’s contract with Dallas County that scrapped precincts for the May 26 runoff was invalid.
Anja Schlein/The Dallas Morning News
One month before the primary runoff, a Texas appeals court has rejected a Republican precinct chair’s emergency effort to force the Dallas County elections chief to reinstate precinct-based voting for the May 26 Election Day.
In a petition filed this week, Barry Wernick alleged former GOP chair Allen West’s amendment to the party’s contract with the county that scrapped precincts for the May 26 runoff was invalid because he did not have authorization from the party’s executive committee.
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About 200 precinct chairs voted last year to use precincts on the primary and runoff election days, a decision that also prevented Democrats from using the countywide system that allows residents to cast a ballot at any vote center regardless of their address.
After thousands of confused voters were turned away at polls on March 3 and redirected to neighborhood precincts, West approved a return of countywide voting for the runoff — a decision he said was to avoid litigation but resulted in his resignation amid intraparty backlash.
Related: GOP member’s lawsuit targets runoff voting as Dallas County moves ahead with countywide plan
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In a ruling published Saturday, a three-judge panel of the Fifth Court of Appeals held it didn’t have jurisdiction to intervene because it can only compel officials to perform duties tied to holding an election — not to preserve the integrity of a pending election. The court also ruled Wernick had no standing to bring the petition as an individual because an election contract is between a party’s executive committee and the county.
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Wernick, also the Republican candidate for Dallas County Commissioners Court District 2, did not immediately respond to a request for comment Saturday. He previously told The Dallas Morning News he would appeal to the Texas Supreme Court if his petition were rejected.
Republican precinct chair Stand Woodward, who filed a declaration in support of Wernick’s petition, called the outcome “really disappointing.”
“If a party chair and a county can implement an illegal contract that goes against the wishes of the (county executive committee), then the court’s decision has massive implications across the state and the nation,” Woodward said.
Related: Dallas County GOP Chair Allen West resigns ahead of expected ouster vote
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Earlier this month, Dallas County Elections Administrator Paul Adams told the commissioners court logistical preparations were already underway to proceed with the amendment allowing countywide voting and it was too close to the runoff to make any more changes.
“Our focus remains on ensuring a smooth, secure and accessible election for all Dallas County voters,” Adams previously told The News.
Democratic party leaders previously characterized the Republicans’ force of precincts as an effort to disenfranchise voters in a key election. After the appeals court ruling on Saturday, County Commissioner Andrew Sommerman, a Democrat being challenged by Wernick in the November general election, called access to voting “fundamental to how a representative democracy functions.”
He said participation rises when people can easily cast a ballot and election outcomes more accurately reflect the will of all people.
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“When people see that a system is accessible and inclusive, confidence in the legitimacy of elections tends to improve,” Sommerman said. “Broad participation signals that outcomes come from a wide cross-section of society, not a privileged slice.”
In their September vote for precincts, the GOP executive committee also pushed to hand-count tens of thousands of Republican ballots for the primary, contingent on staffing and funding. In December, West said the party lacked workers, scrapping the manual count but moving ahead with precinct-based voting and a non-joint primary from Democrats.
In Texas, county officials control the early voting period, so the switch to precincts forced by Republicans applied only to the primary and runoff election days.
Although the runoff is set to return to countywide voting, it will remain a non-joint election, meaning voters of each party will use separate workers and equipment within the same voting locations.
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On Monday, the GOP’s executive committee passed two resolutions that did not address Wernick’s lawsuit but backed its spirit and reaffirmed the desire for precincts in the runoff.
But a faction pushed back. Precinct Chair Lane Sullivan called communication on the rollout of the precinct-based system “disastrous” and urged the party to forget returning to it unless messaging to voters improves.
Backers of precinct-based voting allege countywide voting is less secure; however, the universal system is sanctioned by the state and has no confirmed evidence of fraud.
Related: Dallas County voting clash sharpens after primary chaos, sparks broader fight
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They also blamed county and state failures for the chaos on March 3, not the use of precincts.
Some navigators stationed at polls by Dallas County officials to help guide voters to their precincts on March 3 did not ask for residents’ party affiliation, which sent some to the wrong location due to the non-joint election.
The Secretary of State’s online tool also misdirected some voters because it didn’t reflect accurate precinct maps. After the Texas Legislature pushed a mid-decade redistricting last year, the U.S. Supreme Court did not uphold the GOP-friendly maps until December, compounding confusion with last-minute precinct changes.