AUSTIN, Texas — With less than three months away from the 2024 primary elections in Texas, a rift between Travis County Democrats and Republicans could have an impact on voters.
On Friday, both parties missed a critical deadline for the primaries due to not being able to agree on how the election should be run.
Katie Naranjo with the Travis County Democratic Party said it falls on the Republicans to make a move, however, signs could point to them holding a separate primary election if all else fails.
"Republicans have thus far refused to sign that contract because there are provisions that allow for county-wide voting, which are vote centers," said Naranjo.
In Texas, primary elections are organized by the parties and, historically, the parties come to an agreement on the mechanics of primary voting and send that to the clerk's office, which runs the primary.
During a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Travis County Democrats said they should have had a finalized contract last week but Republicans are holding things up. They say Republicans don't want county-wide polling, which allows voters to cast their ballots anywhere in the county, instead of at a specific precinct location, and they say the Republicans want ballots to be hand-counted.
"It basically assures that folks are going to be confused as to where to go when to go, how to vote," Naranjo said.
The Democrats say a delay in an agreement affects the clerk's office's ability to prepare for March.
"We can get ballots-by-mail out, we can find voting locations, etc. It is Dec. 13 and we are no closer to getting a joint primary negotiated than we were back on Nov. 13," Naranjo said.
KVUE reached out to the Travis County Republican Party Friday and was told that they would not comment until a deal is signed. Republicans stated they sent a draft contract to the Democrats on Friday that included provisions to have county-wide polling but didn't elaborate on the details of that proposal.
In a statement, Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiack wrote in part, "Everything we are seeking has been negotiated with Travis County Elections and has been blessed by the Texas Secretary of State's Office."
If the parties don't agree, there's concern they would have to run the primaries separately. And because Texas has open-primary voting – meaning voters pick which primary, Democrat or Republican, they want to vote in at the polls – there are no guidelines for how that might work.
A Texas Secretary of State's Office staff member told KVUE that if a county has hand-counting ballots, they must have precinct-based returns meaning hand-counting is incompatible with county-wide polling.