With Court at Law Race Now Tied, Kaufman County Republicans Brace for Summer Do-over

KAUFMAN — With their contested March 6 Republican primary now standing at a tie, two Kaufman County Court-at-Law hopefuls await a ruling Thursday that will probably send them into a summer special election.Visiting Judge Martin Lowy ruled Wednesday that a provisional ballot entered into evidence should be counted. The vote made up the one-vote deficit that left challenger Tracy Gray just short in in her bid to unseat incumbent Dennis Jones.Kimberlee Walker moved from Dallas County, where she was a registered voter. Well before the deadline to register for the primary in Kaufman County, she changed her driver's license info on the Department of Public Safety website and clicked that she also wanted to register to vote. While an official with the Texas Secretary of State's office testified Tuesday that Texas requires another step — filling out a form, which Walker did not do — Lowy looked instead to federal motor law. He said that law indicates an application for a driver's license shall serve as voter registration."I have jurisdiction and authority and an obligation to abide by and enforce federal law," as it relates to this case, Judge Lowy said. "Her vote in favor of Ms. Gray will be counted."Five mail-in votes tossedJudge Lowy also found enough evidence of voting impropriety to invalidate five ballots from a precinct in Terrell where poll worker Brenda Prince has been accused of ballot harvesting.None of the witness voters could remember who they voted for in the race. Because mail-in votes are separated from the carrier envelopes before they're counted, there is no way to tell whether the five voted for Gray or Jones or not at all in the contested race.   Continue reading...