Bexar County Voting Machine Omits Abbott

Outgoing Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst made an unexpected return to the ballot on Tuesday, and a dozen people had a chance to vote for him.

While Republican Greg Abbott easily won the governor’s election, a handful of voters in San Antonio never saw the attorney general’s name on the ballot. The screen of one voting machine in Bexar County displayed Dewhurst’s name instead of Abbott’s in the governor's race, according to a photo that went viral online Tuesday.

Twelve votes were cast on the faulty machine before county officials removed it, according to a statement from Election Systems and Software, the company that provides Bexar County's machines. All votes were tabulated correctly, the company said. 

The company attributed the glitch to a faulty memory card.

"A full review and diagnostic test is underway to determine and validate the exact cause of this issue,” Election Systems and Software said in a statement. "Once this review is complete, ES&S will provide a report to Bexar County detailing the outcome of the forensic analysis."

There is no record, however, reflecting whether Dewhurst received any votes. Bexar County Election Administrator Jacque Callanen said the machine properly printed Abbott's name when officials harvested its vote tallies.

"All the votes were there, we didn't lose a vote at all," Callanen said. 

Abbott shared a news story on Twitter Tuesday afternoon about the machine omitting his name, and urged followers to call the Secretary of State’s office if they spotted any problems.