SAN ANTONIO – Bexar County took nearly six and a half hours to count the more than 78,000 ballots cast on Super Tuesday this year.
“I was proud of the way the election came out. I was disappointed that the final report did not say March 5th. It said March 6th,” said Jacque Callanen, Bexar County elections administrator.
Bexar County’s 2024 primary election results were timestamped on Wednesday, March 6, at 1:23 a.m., marking the end of a process that started when polls closed at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5.
“Some of our judges and some of the poll sites didn’t keep separate paperwork, so they intermingled the labels and signatures,” said Callanen.
Callanen said that while the tabulator at each polling site counts the total number of ballots, the judges are required to count the total number of signatures for Democrats and Republicans. They then ensure those numbers split by party add up to the tabulator total count.
If the judges don’t have the numbers for Democrats and Republicans, “they have to step to the side and sit at a table, and it’s up to the judge to tell us the number of Democrats and Republicans. And so they are sitting there hand-counting sheets of paper,” said Callanen.
KSAT’s John Paul Barajas asked, “How long of a setback do you think that put you guys on Super Tuesday into Wednesday?”
“It did put us behind, and I know some of them had to go back and count them like three times,” said Callanen.
Once the number matches, one of the five regional sending sites will accept the polling site numbers. Those numbers are then added to the county’s election report, updated several times on election night.
“I have 100% confidence in it. I wish we could show your viewers the checks and balances that are there,” said Callanen.
She said there were other issues, like judges taking longer than expected to arrive at their regional sending site and some polling locations being busier than others.
“There is all the human element that gets into this, and we’re not going to rush through just to meet a timeline. We are going to do our process and our checks and balances to make sure we have an accurate election,” said Callanen.
She says protocols training was provided before this most recent election, but more training will be provided going forward.
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