Travis County GOP sues over lack of Republican poll workers, had sent in 'over 900' names

AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Travis County Republic Party sued Travis County Clerk Dyana Limon-Mercado over an imbalance in poll workers at local voting sites, according to a Tuesday press release and court filing.

The filing claimed the TCRP submitted the names of "over 900" qualified, Republican volunteers to the county clerk in June. It also alleged only 72 Republicans were selected as poll workers, just 24% of the total 306 clerks, and with 32 Republicans who were not on the TCRP's list.

“It is totally unacceptable that large portions of our county have no Republican election judges assigned, despite our providing far more than the number of available workers needed," said TCRP chair Matt Mackowiak in the press release.

Per the TCRP, 24% of early voting sites didn't have a Republican judge or alternate, and 50% lacked a Republican during the morning or evening shifts. On Election Day, 41% of voting sites will lack Republican poll workers.

Limon-Mercado's office said it was aware of the lawsuit and was working with the Travis County Attorney to file a response.

"Our office remains committed to administering an election that is accessible to all eligible voters," said a spokesperson for the clerk’s office. "This is made possible through the dedication of our full-time staff and temporary election workers. We appreciate their hard work and service to Travis County."

The Texas Elections Code requires each polling location's presiding judge and alternate judge to be "affiliated or aligned" with different parties. It also requires, if possible, selecting poll workers from different political parties.

TCRP said it learned about the lack of Republican representation Oct. 16, less than a week before early voting began.

"As long as I am TCRP chair, we will hold local government accountable when they violate our rights and risk election integrity. This is an egregious example, and we look forward to our day in court," Mackowiak said.

The lawsuit asked the judge to replace Democratic and unaffiliated election officials with volunteers from the original TCRP list, as necessary to "achieve bipartisan representation at all Election Day polling locations." It also asked the court to issue a ruling "without oral argument" or "right to file a rehearing," due to limited time before Election Day.