A state district judge on Tuesdsay ordered Harris County to keep nine polling locations open until 8 p.m., one hour after they were scheduled to close, following a lawsuit filed by the Texas Civil Rights Project and Texas Organizing Project.

The groups alleged that people who attempted to vote at the nine locations ran into trouble over technological issues with voting machines or because the polls opened late.

State District Judge Fredericka Phillips, a Democrat, granted the temporary restraining order sought by both groups, who also argued the county was violating the Texas Election Code’s requirement that polls open at 7 a.m., as well as violating voters’ rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments.

“The harm of disenfranchisement outweighs Defendants’ interest because there is no legitimate governmental interest associated with closing the polls at 7 p.m. when voters have not been provided an adequate opportunity to vote, much less an important one that might justify depriving plaintiffs of their constitutional and statutory right to vote,” the suit argued.

Per the Texas Election code, voters who arrive after 7 p.m. will cast provisional ballots, which are not automatically counted and could later be thrown out by the Ballot Review Board.

"Getting there before 7 o’clock is the thing to do," said Sonya Aston, an attorney with the Harris County Clerk's Office.

The nine locations are:

Iglesia Trinidad Church, 11602 Bobcat Road, at FM 1960 Road West, Houston, 77064

Metcalf Elementary School, 6100 Queenston Boulevard, at Little York Road, Houston, 77084

Evelyn Thompson Elementary School, 220 Casa Grande Drive, at Buckle Street, Houston, 77060

Hampton Inn and Suites, 5820 Katy Freeway, at Washington Avenue, Houston, 77007

Fiesta Mart, 8130 Kirby Drive, at OST, Houston, 77054

John Marshall Middle School, 1115 Noble Street, near Marion Street, Houston, 77009

Historic Oaks of Allen Parkway Village Community Building, 1810 Bluebonnet Place Circle, at Valentine Way Drive, Houston, 77019

Lone Star College Cypress Center, 19710 Clay Road, near North Fry Road, Katy, 77449

Houston Community College Alief Center 13803 Bissonnet Street, at Keegans Wood Drive, Houston, 77083

Hani Mirza, senior attorney for the Texas Civil Rights Project, said his organization first got calls from Harris County residents attempting to vote but were unable to because polls opened late or ran into problems with voting machines.

The organization had been watching for such issues across the state after similar problems in past elections, he said, and received a slew of calls from voters across Harris County.

“Based on our reports, a lot of reports are coming specifically from Harris County, and we’re troubled by that, and we’re going to investigate why we’re getting so many reports from Harris County today,” he said.

Mirza said they received reports or poll monitors noticed problems at nine locations, raising concerns about voter disenfranchisement of those trying to cast their ballots during one of the busiest times of day.

“Harris County is huge, and there’s a lot of traffic in Harris County, and a lot of people can’t drive back from work and get to their polling locations by 7 p.m., and that’s why a lot of people choose to vote in the morning,” he said. “And If you take away that option, you may be disenfranchising voters, and that’s a severe concern, a severe harm, and it troubles us a lot.”

The suit names Harris County, the county commissioners, County Judge Ed Emmett, and County Clerk Stan Stanart.

The suit alleges that voters had to wait more than an hour at the nine voting locations, and that when representatives from the Texas Civil Rights Project and Texas Organizing Project notified the county about the problems, the county “declined to agree to extend polling locations’ hours” to provide voters the 12-hour window required on Election Day.

A spokesman for Stanart, who oversees elections, could not immediately be reached for comment, but his office issued a news release saying early voting and absentee results would be delayed by the court order.

The county said the first voter checked into each of the nine locations between 7:09 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., but did not provide details about technological problems or delays from long lines.

Stanart, a Republican, is up for re-election this year against Democrat Diane Trautman.

Michelle Tremillo, executive director of the Texas Organizing Project, said in a statement the extra hour “does not fully make up for the county’s failure to properly run the elections.”

“While it may not have been the county’s intention, the impact of their failure is, in effect, a form of voter suppression,” Tremillo said. “These nine polling locations predominantly serve communities of color. If even one person lost their chance to vote, it is one person too many.”

In sworn statements, four voters said they were not able to cast their votes because polling stations opened late. Deniz Alan, lined up to vote at Precinct 0957. The location opened its doors at 7:45 a.m., but Alan was not able to vote until 8 a.m., according to Alan’s sworn declaration.

Another would-be voter, Jessica Hill, showed up at John Marshall Middle School at approximately 6:30 a.m. She was not let in to vote until 7:30 a.m., only to fund the sign-in machines were not working. At 7:45 a.m., Hill, a teacher, left without casting her ballot, because she did not want to be late for work.

Reporter Zach Despart contributed to this story.

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