The review of questioned ballots in Saturday's runoff election continued over much of Sunday.
Election officials are still reviewing 698 mail-in ballots set aside for additional scrutiny. The ballots are sequestered by court order after ballot tampering accusations surfaced in the May election.
“The election process is a Sacrament in our democracy and when that Sacrament is ruined, people lose confidence,” Mayor Mike Rawlings said Saturday night.
A warrant has been issued for one suspect accused of ballot tampering in May and prosecutors have said other people could be charged as the investigation continues.
So for the runoff, officials will pay closer attention to mail-in ballots on which voters indicated by a signature on the return envelope that someone else provided help.
“There’s nothing wrong with getting assistance on a mail in ballot,” said Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins. “If I had an elderly relative I might assist them. But because of these allegations that are out there, what we’ve seen thus far, we’re taking extra precautions.”
A review panel will compare voter signatures on the ballot envelopes with the signature on the paperwork of the person claiming to have provided help to see if it appears they were completed by the same person. The voter’s signature may also be compared with the voter registration signature for authentication before the mail-in ballots are counted.
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Challengers were leading incumbents in all three hotly contested Dallas City Council races after the preliminary results from Saturday’s run off but all three were subject to change by the number of sequestered main-in ballots.
In District 6, 342 mail-in ballots were set aside. There were 291 to be reviewed for District 7 and 65 for District 8.
District 6 incumbent Monica Alonzo trailed challenger Omar Narvaez by 304 votes. District 7 incumbent Tiffinni Young trailed challenger Kevin Felder by 169 votes. District 8 incumbent Erik Wilson trailed challenger Tennell Atkins by 47 votes.
All three incumbents received strong support from a political action committee run by Mayor Rawlings political consultant that raised hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy North Texas business leaders.
“I’m not here tonight to support any candidate, I’m here tonight to support a fair and honest election,” Rawling said after meeting with election officials Saturday night. “I believe we have the belts and suspenders in place to make sure that happens.”
Rawlings and Jenkins said the goal was to have the sequestered ballots reviewed by Monday morning but the task could take longer.
Candidates are allowed to have poll watchers on hand for the review.
