With race tight in Texas, Donald Trump suggests scandal afoot

Donald Trump hugs an American flag at a campaign stop in Tampa, Fla. Relive the presidential debates through memes. Donald Trump hugs an American flag at a campaign stop in Tampa, Fla. Relive the presidential debates through memes. Photo: Evan Vucci, STF Photo: Evan Vucci, STF Image 1 of / 110 Caption Close With race tight in Texas, Donald Trump suggests scandal afoot 1 / 110 Back to Gallery

Donald Trump, in his notorious twitter feed, took aim at Texas Thursday morning, suggesting that something scandalous was afoot with early voting in the Lone Star State.

Trump's tweet cited reports of "vote flipping at the voting booths" and "BIG lines" then posed the question, "what is going on?" Although Trump did not explicitly stipulate that the Texas vote was "rigged"--a word he has used repeatedly to describe the entire election process--his tweet was meant to convey to his nearly 13 million followers that said rigging was a possibility.

A lot of call-ins about vote flipping at the voting booths in Texas. People are not happy. BIG lines. What is going on? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) October 27, 2016

HoustonChronicle.com: Could the presidential election be rigged? Not likely.

Officials across the state have denied that possibility.

Texas, typically among the staunchest red states in the nation, was dubbed a toss-up this week by polling aggregation RealClearPolitics, though experts have contended that a blue Texas in the near term remains extremely unlikely.

READ MORE: UH poll: Donald Trump leads Hillary Clinton by 3 percentage points in Texas

Since early voting began, numerous reports have surfaced on social media alleging various malfunctions with the voting machines. Officials have denied the veracity of all those reports, except one case in Chambers County, where a software glitch had left one statewide court of appeals race blank when voters cast straight-ticket ballots for either party.

Nevertheless, user reports of faulty voting machines have gained hefty traction on social media.

HoustonChronicle.com: Officials deny voting machine problems shared on social media

Trump was also correct to identify long lines at Texas early voting spots. Officials have attributed those to the surging voter turnout--which analysts have also identified as a big factor in Texas' toss-up status. In Harris County, where long lines have plagued voting spots since the polls opened the week, county clerk Stan Stanart said his office predicted record-breaking turnout on Monday of about 55,000, then was shocked to measure 67,000 at the polls that day. In the days since, the numbers have continued to grow.

Major urban areas across the state also reported record early voting turnout and long lines at polling places.