Jefferson County’s rejected voters were elderly, infirm or out-of-town

Voters use their lunch break to cast their ballot at Rogers Park on Tuesday's Election Day. Photo taken Tuesday, 11/6/18 Voters use their lunch break to cast their ballot at Rogers Park on Tuesday's Election Day. Photo taken Tuesday, 11/6/18 Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor Photo: Guiseppe Barranco/The Enterprise, Photo Editor Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Jefferson County’s rejected voters were elderly, infirm or out-of-town 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Virginia Fawcett is 90 years old and blind in one eye. In February, she had surgery on the other eye. So when it came time to mail in her ballot for early voting this year, she asked her daughter to sign the back of the envelope for her.

That got her ballot flagged, along with 85 others filed by Jefferson County residents, most of them seniors. But after a judge ruled this week that all 86 people must be notified in time to cast a vote, Fawcett made the trek to the county courthouse on Tuesday.

“I’m proud of the fact that I forced myself to go to the courthouse and vote,” the Groves resident said.

The Enterprise reached out to all of the voters who had their ballots pulled by election monitors. Sixteen of them, or a family member, agreed to talk with the newspaper about their experience.

Nine said they voted in person on Tuesday. Two others were traveling. Four said they decided to stay home, either because of the hassle, the difficulty of getting there or the feeling their vote wouldn’t matter. The daughter of a 96-year-old woman said she had not heard about the ballot issue.

The Rev. Rufus Parker Jr. of Beaumont’s Morning Star Baptist Church said he and his wife, Patricia, are “never” going to vote by mail again after the experience.

Parker said the pair opted to do so because they weren’t sure when Patricia might be at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for pancreatic cancer treatments. Her vote was flagged.

“She’s on chemotherapy and has shaky hands,” Parker said. Her signature, he added, “is not going to look the same.”

Parker said his wife, who is 69, was determined to vote. The couple were parked outside the Jefferson County Courthouse before it opened on Election Day, he said.

Rejected ballots were sent to the courthouse, where residents could pick them up on Election Day and vote at the downtown location.

Fawcett, who hasn’t driven for two decades and has been voting by mail for several years, said her ballots had “never” been questioned before. Clad in her pink house coat, she made her way to the courthouse on Tuesday with the help of Judy Nichols, chairwoman of the Jefferson County Republican Party.

“I don’t mind,” Fawcett said.

Thelma Richard, 74, of Beaumont “thank(ed) God” for getting to vote after learning from her daughter that her ballot had been voided.

“It is a success story,” said Jefferson County Democratic Party chairman Cade Bernsen, who filed a lawsuit on behalf of four residents on the list, including a legally blind man and a 92-year-old woman.

“We need to protect these people,” Bernsen said. “Every vote matters.”

Data from the United States Election Assistance Commission show that 99 percent of absentee ballots categorized as “returned and submitted for counting” were ultimately counted in the 2016 election.

The most common reasons for rejection were missing the deadline, not signing paperwork and having ballot signatures not matching the state’s records, the commission said in its latest report.

RELATED: Jefferson officials ordered to give flagged voters a means to cast ballot

An 87-year-old Beaumont woman who asked not to be identified said she couldn’t believe her ballot was rejected because she forgot to check a box indicating she was over the age of 65.

Nichols said she believed that if the order hadn’t required a mad dash to the courthouse on the last day of voting, perhaps the ballots would have been “reprocessed” by board members on Tuesday “and errors corrected.”

While some ballots were “legitimately” discarded for reasons such as invalid signatures, Nichols said there was a likelihood that other ballots may have been ruled “legit” by the board at a second review.

Nichols tried to stop the second review from happening last Friday because she said she thought the board was going to conduct the meeting on Election Day. Bernsen said previously that he thought trying to cancel the meeting was “completely irresponsible.”

State District Judge Justin Sanderson’s order — which stated it was likely the 86 voters would “lose their right to vote or otherwise have their voting rights infringed” without court intervention — “trumps election code,” County Clerk Carolyn Guidry said.

The sister of an 81-year-old Nederland man said she helped her brother, Allie Howard, complete his absentee ballot. They later received notice the ballot was rejected but couldn’t drive to the courthouse on Tuesday, she said.

Per Sanderson’s order, flagged voters have seven days to cast another ballot once they receive written notice of the ballot issue.

Still, Howard’s sister said she did “not think it’d make much difference with one vote. … Maybe next time we’ll do better.”

Another Beaumont resident agreed, saying it was too much of a “hassle” to try again.

James King, a 74-year-old Democrat, said he felt that Republicans deliberately rejected his ballot.

READ MORE: Democrats cry foul over handling of mail-in ballots

A Monday lawsuit filed by Bernsen and Beaumont attorney Mark Sparks accused the early voting ballot board of denying their clients and others of the right to vote by “actively conspiring with Republican activists or operatives.”

Nichols has stressed that the Republican Party is not suppressing voters and that vetting mail-in ballots and applications “is a two-party process.”

Members of the early voting ballot board — a bipartisan group appointed by the county clerk, voter registrar, local party chairs, sheriff and county judge — work in pairs, one Democrat and one Republican, to verify signatures. Two judges, representing both parties, lead the board.

Guidry, who was elected to her fifth term this week, said she plans to institute a signature verification committee for future elections.

State law says that if the signature verification committee eyes a ballot for rejection, the ballot board must then have a majority vote for the ballot to ultimately be rejected.

The rejected ballot “automatically goes through the second (vetting) process,” Guidry said. With just the ballot board, a second review is optional, she said.

Guidry said the committee would be crucial to ensuring Jefferson County voters are “not disenfranchised” by allowing a “second set of eyes” to review ballots.

Signature verification committees are not required by law but can be created by the county clerk or through a petition signed by at least 15 registered voters, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office. Members of the signature verification committee would be nominated like early voting ballot board members, Guidry said.

She estimated 20 to 30 of the flagged voters this year came in to cast a ballot on Tuesday.

Guidry said the board should be “a little more sensitive” when reviewing signatures as “none of us are handwriting experts.”

Susan Abbey, a Dallas-based handwriting expert, said that for most people, “handwriting does change over time, usually due to a decline in health.”

For elderly residents, she said, handwriting can vary depending upon the time of day.

Parker, the minister, said the mail-in ballot option is “something good,” but this time it has just been “a headache.”

“Voter suppression really happens,” Parker said. “The system is messed up.”

Bernsen called current election laws “ridiculous,” saying rules need to be changed so those who cast rejected ballots can be notified immediately.

Sara Laurents, wife of Groves resident James Laurents said it was her “fault” that her husband’s ballot got rejected. After breaking his hip in March, the 86-year-old is “real weak,” Sara Laurents said. So she signed for him.

Although the couple was “not physically strong” enough to make it to downtown Beaumont on Tuesday, Sara Laurents said she was glad the board was “scrutiniz(ing) everything.”

David Pugh, 91, of Beaumont said his ballot was rejected but he’d continue to vote by mail because of the convenience.

Jean McFaddin, wife of Northcutt McFaddin, said the couple were “really aggravated” to learn of the dozens of rejected ballots. Her 84-year-old husband has “a slight tremor,” she said, but otherwise, she can’t think of why his ballot may have been tossed.

The McFaddins were out of town for early voting and Election Day and were just heading back to Beaumont on Thursday, she said.

Eddie Shamp III, a 57-year-old Beaumont resident, is retired and spends a lot of time overseas volunteering. He voted by mail this November before heading to Thailand, he said.

Shamp said he wished there were “a better system” and that voters were given “clear information.”

He said he won’t be back in town before his seven days to cast another ballot are up.