AUSTIN, Texas — We are less than three months away from the 2024 primary elections in Texas.
The Democratic and Republican parties in Travis County can't agree on how the March primary should run, and there's concern that it could affect how residents vote.
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 actually runs the primary.
But 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.
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," said Katie Naranjo, chair of the Travis County Democratic Party.
However, the Travis County Republican Party told KVUE it sent a draft contract to the Democrats on Friday that included provisions to have county-wide polling, but it 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 come to an agreement, 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 really no guidelines for how that might work.