Harris County Elections officials say approximately 10,000 mail-in ballots were inadvertently left out of the March 1 primary election count.
About 6,000 Democratic and 4,000 Republican ballots were discovered uncounted early Saturday.
According to a statement from Administrator Isabel Longoria's office, “The oversight occurred between the hours of 1 and 4 a.m. as the political parties that make up the Central Count Committee were reviewing ballots. While the votes were scanned into our tabulation computer, they were not transferred and counted as a part of the unofficial final results as they should have been."
The Texas Secretary of State’s office will investigate the process, and all 10,000 ballots will be added to the final count on Tuesday.
State Sen. Paul Bettencourt (R-District 7) told KPRC 2 the fault lies with Longoria, who came into the job with little experience.
Diana Martinez Alexander, the Democratic candidate leading in the race for U.S. Representative in Congressional District 38, said a combination of factors can be blamed, including recent state legislation, a Republican lawsuit that has slowed counting, and equipment problems.