How this Texas elections official keeps the peace with right-wing voting activists
In the face of their suspicions and threats, Tarrant County Elections Administrator Heider Garcia didn’t fight back. He welcomed them in and listened. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/266ec631fdaef71bfb67bdd27d78b63e/1108%20Tarrant%20County%20Election%20ST%2037B.jpg)
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/profiles/Contreras.jpeg)
Natalia Contreras covers election administration and voting access for Votebeat in partnership with The Texas Tribune. She has covered a range of topics as a community journalist including local government, public safety, immigration and social issues. Natalia previously reported for the Austin American-Statesman, focusing on impacts of government policies on communities of color. Natalia previously worked at the Indianapolis Star, where she helped launch the first Spanish-language newsletter, and at the Corpus Christi Caller-Times. She was born in Tampico, Tamaulipas in Mexico and grew up in Corpus Christi, Texas. She is based in Corpus Christi.
Latest Contributions
-
![Election Administrator Heider Garcia speaks to members of the ballot board in the central count station of the Tarrant County Election Administration building in Fort Worth on November 8, 2022.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Voters of color had mail-in ballots rejected at higher rates than white voters in Texas’ March primary
Asian voters were most disproportionately affected by the new ID requirements included in voting restrictions passed by the 2021 Legislature, a Brennan Center for Justice analysis found. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f0ce321e4f3fff7f4d7c3fdb257717ef/Harris%20Co%20Ballot%20Drop%20Off%20AM%20TT%2013.jpg)
![Signs direct voters at the Harris County ballot drop-off site at NRG Stadium in Houston on Oct. 28, 2020.]()
Credit: Annie Mulligan for The Texas Tribune -
Ruling in fluoride election lawsuit marks latest defeat for prominent Texas vote-fraud activist
Laura Pressley helped allies in Gillespie County challenge the results of a 2019 referendum over fluoride in tap water. A judge did not buy their claims of election irregularities. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/ed6ed2a3cafa704f87340e454a324a77/1010%20Voter%20Fraud%20Trial%20EL%2007.jpg)
![Laura Pressley, a self-styled poll-watching expert and vocal opponent of electronic voting systems, waits with Jeannette Hormuth, a poll watcher during the 2019 special election, during an intermission of a trial disputing the integrity of a special election, held in November 2019 which concerned the vote to remove fluoride from the city’s water, at the Gillespie County Jail in Fredericksburg, on Oct. 10, 2022. The trial was ultimately ruled in favor of the city.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
In heated exchange, federal judge demands True the Vote identify who provided access to poll worker data
The Texas nonprofit has spread voter fraud conspiracy theories for years. Konnech Inc. accuses the organization of defamation and computer fraud in a lawsuit. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/6a5088411e9c9013725f2c53ea68400f/Hays%20County%20Election%20Test%20EL%2008.jpg)
![A bipartisan testing crew uses voting machines and tabulators during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test on Sept. 21 at the Hays County government building in San Marcos. Texas law requires public testing of the voting machines before and after every election.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Boisterous agitators disrupt Hays County election machine test, badger Texas secretary of state
“Can we go back to focusing on the testing please?” official pleads as crowd demands answers to conspiracy theories. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/bc96880b3854fd78712abb2588975d3d/0921%20Hays%20County%20Election%20Test%20TT%2019.jpg)
![Secetary of State John Scott listens to members of the public while they ask questions about the voting during a state-mandated logic and accuracy test at the Hays County Government building in San Marcos on Sept. 21, 2022. Questions mainly revolved around the saftey of the procedure of the voting machines, and the precautions the department was taking to elliminate errors within the counting process.]()
Credit: Evan L'Roy/The Texas Tribune -
Lawsuit alleges Texas’ True the Vote hacked data and targeted small election vendor with racist, defamatory campaign
Case cites election integrity group’s own public claims that it stole data from Michigan company that makes software for managing poll workers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/7df71fdf4ebae7b73b0303d2edad16e0/Primary%20Voting%20Houston%20MS%20TT.jpg)
![Democratic primary voting in the West University area in Houston on Mar. 6, 2018.]()
Credit: Michael Stravato for The Texas Tribune -
What brought down one Texas county’s entire elections department? It was something in the water.
Aggrieved anti-fluoride activists, low pay and an understaffed office eventually drove away all of Gillespie County’s election staff. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/299853bfc28ad2e4f10818c7c058673d/0815%20EG%20Fredericksburg%20File%20TT%2004.jpg)
![The Gillespie County Court House in Fredericksburg on Aug. 15, 2022.]()
Credit: Eddie Gaspar/The Texas Tribune -
Tarrant County conservatives push questions about Texas election integrity
After “seeking God’s guidance,” the group has engaged in yearlong campaign chasing evidence, lobbying government, and harassing an election official, with little to show for it. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/23439f6d9313f2c26ad60e1d257a007c/Elections%20GOP%20Recount%20ST%20TT%2008.jpg)
![Elections Administrator Heider Garcia goes through boxes of ballots from the 2020 GOP primary elections that will be recounted by an election integrity group at the Tarrant County Elections Administration building in Fort Worth, TX on July 22, 2022. Ballots become public records after 22 months, granting this group access to review the votes from this election, and eventually, the general.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune -
Right-wing group is quietly conducting review of 300,000 Tarrant County ballots from 2020 primary
The March ballots are public records under Texas law, but the Tarrant review may just be a warmup for endlessly disputed elections. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/55e277903ca1ecc1d72abadb7e310f73/Elections%20GOP%20Recount%20ST%20TT%2002.JPG)
![Election Administrator Heider Garcia goes through boxes of ballots from the 2020 GOP primary elections that will be recounted by an election integrity group at the Tarrant County Elections Administration building in Fort Worth on July 22, 2022. Ballots become public records after 22 months, granting this group access to review the votes from this election, and eventually, the general.]()
Credit: Shelby Tauber for The Texas Tribune