As Fort Bend County voters went to vote in last month's primary, some weren't able to check in. They had to use provisional ballots.
PREVIOUS REPORT: Fort Bend County hasn't said how many voters impacted by election error
An issue that lasted for hours. Despite this, there was no information about what was happening on the county's website or social media platforms.
Commissioner Dexter McCoy, a candidate for county judge, posted a video on his campaign's social media around 90 minutes after the issue started.
"I've talked to the election's administrator and IT department, and they told me they're working on a solution to make sure they get them back up and running," McCoy said.
ABC13 wanted to know more about the communication from that day and requested documents from the elections administrator, the county judge's staff, and McCoy.
The county sent ABC13 a bill for $324 to get the information. We paid it.
McCoy told Eyewitness News he had nothing in writing. The election administrator provided an email that was shared with the county judge's staff.
In it, ABC13 learned they thought the issue would be fixed in less than an hour and a half.
"We immediately contacted the vendor who provided a solution, that we were informed could take up to an hour and 20 minutes," Elections Administrator Chase Wilson wrote.
It took more than double that amount of time.
Officials said issues started at 2:30 p.m. The elections administrator told ABC13 that he contacted the county GOP chair an hour after problems started.
Around 4 p.m., McCoy shared a social media message. At 5 p.m., the elections administrator said the first direct communication with the judge's office took place.
Around 5:30 p.m., the elections administrator sent an email to the county judge's chief of staff, Trever Nehls, and then the communication person, Bobby Eberle.
Minutes later, the judge's office announced a new conference. By 5:45 p.m., the issues were resolved.
At 6 p.m., a news conference took place.
As far as why it took hours to get information to top leaders, the elections administrator told ABC13 he believed he was indirectly talking to the judge's office through the GOP chair. He said that communication has to get better.
Not just with officials, but also informing the public as well. Wilson said they're working on a new system to get information faster to the media and post it on social media faster as well.
Despite the issues, county officials stressed that the election integrity wasn't compromised.
While ABC13 received an email from Wilson, we're still waiting on the judge's office. County officials said there's one document from the judge's staff tied to ABC13's request, and they've asked them to provide it.
So far, ABC13 hasn't received it. ABC13 questioned the $324 bill after receiving one email. County officials told Eyewitness News crews that they would give ABC13 a refund.