The Battle over Provisional Ballots November 12, 2008

Ballot Board

 The battle over provisional ballots could be resolved Thursday, meaning we should know if there is any change in the outcome of two Judicial Races.

The independent ballot board wrapped up the processing of the ballots late Wednesday night.

The board reviewed each one and decided which should be rejected or accepted and electronically counted.

The board did its work despite the legal drama that was playing out blocks away in Federal Court.

Democratic Judicial candidate Goodwille Pierre , along with the Democratic Party, filed a lawsuit against Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Paul Bettencourt.

Paul Bettencourt

Goodwille Pierre

 The suit alleged (along with other issues) that Bettencourt was not moving quickly enough to process provisional ballots that were cast in the November 4th election.

The request for a temporary restraining order  was tossed out after attorneys informed the judge Wednesday morning that Bettencourt’s office had finished processing about 7 thousand provisional ballots, and sent them to the independent ballot board for review.

The board decides which ones are valid based on Bettencourt certifying  the voter’s registration information.

Pierre lost to incumbent Republican Judge Tad Halbach by less than 600 votes.

Many believe that the provisional ballots likely benefit the democratic candidate,.

If that holds true Pierre believes he  has a good shot of being declared the winner.

A Judicial Race in Limbo November 6, 2008

Democratic judicial candidate Goodwille Pierre is waiting for the Harris County Clerk’s office to count the provisional ballots in the race for the 333rd civil district court.

On election night Pierre trailed incumbent republican State District Judge Tad Hallbach by 529 votes, but he isn’t going to concede (or celebrate?) until the additional ballots are counted.

2 on the Beat has reported already that 6,950 provisional ballots were cast by people whose names could not be found on the voter books during early voting or on election day.

Pierre says he believes those were people who registered to vote on time, but the county entered their names into the system too late.

The provisional ballot board will begin reviewing the votes on Friday morning.