Timeline of hand count raises questions in Calhoun County Republican primary

A hand count of ballots in the March 2026 Calhoun County Republican primary stretched across multiple days this week as party officials worked to reconcile vote totals and complete required election paperwork.

Final unofficial results were filed with the county elections administrator and reported to the state Friday morning, more than two days after polls closed.

County Republicans chose to manually count ballots rather than use electronic tabulation equipment. Calhoun County was one of only three counties in Texas — along with Gillespie and Eastland — to conduct a hand count in the primary.

Volunteers spent several days reconciling vote totals from mail ballots, early voting and Election Day ballots.

Under Texas law, precinct returns are generally required to be delivered within two hours after polls close or as soon as practicable afterward and no later than 24 hours after polls close.

In Calhoun County, the 24-hour reporting deadline passed before official precinct return paperwork compiling vote totals was filed with the county elections administrator.

Election reporting deadlines are intended to ensure transparency and maintain public confidence in election results. When results are delayed beyond those deadlines, the situation can draw scrutiny from candidates, voters and election officials who rely on the timely release of returns to verify vote totals and track the counting process.

One closely contested race from the primary is already headed to a recount after two candidates finished just six votes apart.

Tuesday, March 3 — 7 a.m.: Volunteers began manually counting early voting ballots.

Tuesday afternoon and evening: Counting continued as volunteers worked to reconcile early voting totals.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday: Ballot counting continued as volunteers attempted to reconcile totals.

With the exception of mail-in ballots and early voting ballots, precinct ballots were counted locally before being transported to a central counting location.

Many of those deliveries occurred before midnight or 1 a.m., though the tallies available at that time were not provided to the general custodian of election records according to election officials.

Ballots continued arriving throughout the night. The final Election Day ballots came from the voting Precinct 1 polling location at the Calhoun County Library. The ballots arrived at the central location at approximately 5 a.m. Wednesday. Party officials said 39 ballots were cast at that location. It took approximately 10 hours for those ballots to be tallied.

Wednesday — approximately noon: Preliminary Election Day totals for local races were made available.

Wednesday — nearly 5 p.m.: Early voting totals were presented to candidates.

Thursday afternoon: Mail ballot counts were made available.

Thursday evening: Party members gathered at Russell Cain Real Estate to continue reconciling totals and preparing the paperwork needed to submit results.

Friday morning: Unofficial results were filed with the county elections administrator and transmitted to the Texas Secretary of State.

Several individuals involved in the counting process expressed concerns to the Port Lavaca Wave about the length of the effort and the lack of standardized procedures. Some said that after many hours of counting they began to question their own totals, while another said precinct teams developed their own counting methods and sometimes changed those procedures during the process.

“I know they kind of did the do-it-yourself scratch paper things,” said Alicia Pierce with the Texas Secretary of State’s office. “We didn’t really prescribe those forms, but we do advise counties to use the forms that we’ve created. It could be problematic, but it’s not a fatal issue. It doesn’t invalidate the election just because they didn’t use the forms.”

Pierce said it could become an issue if the election were legally challenged.

“Someone could say you didn’t use the forms and question how the votes were determined,” she said.

 

Several provisions of the Texas Election Code govern how quickly election returns must be reported.

Precinct returns are generally required to be delivered within two hours after polls close, or as soon as practicable afterward.

If officials determine the results cannot be delivered by 2 a.m., the presiding judge must notify the general custodian of election records between midnight and 1 a.m. and provide:

• The number of voters according to the poll list
• The votes tallied at that time
• An estimate of when the count will be completed

In Calhoun County, the general custodian of election records was notified that the 2 a.m. deadline would not be met. However, the additional information required under the statute does not appear to have been provided.

Failure to deliver precinct returns within 24 hours after polls close is classified as a Class B misdemeanor under the Texas Election Code.

 

Despite the results now being filed, questions remain about how the reporting deadlines outlined in state law will be addressed and whether any review of the counting process will occur. State officials said enforcement of election law generally falls to local prosecutors or the courts.

According to Pierce, the agency primarily provides guidance to local election officials rather than conducting investigations.

“We largely are not an investigative or enforcement agency,” Pierce said.

“People can file election complaints with us or with the Attorney General’s office,” Pierce said. “The attorney general could also look into it, but something like this would more likely fall to a local prosecutor.”

“A local prosecutor could bring charges for the failure to get election results submitted in a timely way,” she continued. “We don’t see that very often because generally there is some kind of emergency or circumstance causing the delay.”

Candidates who question election results may also pursue recounts or legal challenges, Pierce said.

“There can be legal repercussions if someone wanted to pursue that,” she said.

 

Precinct 2 commissioner candidate Pat Petrisky finished six votes — less than 1% — behind Michael Balajka and has requested a recount scheduled for Thursday, March 12.

In that race, Ronny Best received 386 votes, or 42.79%, finishing first in the three-candidate race. Michael Balajka received 261 votes, or 28.94%, while Petrisky received 255 votes, or 28.27%.

Since no candidate received more than 50% of the vote, the top two candidates — Best and Balajka — will advance to a runoff election scheduled for May 26.

Because the original tally was conducted by hand, the recount will also be performed manually under Texas election rules governing recount procedures.

“I feel like when the Republican Party committed to hand counting, I think they didn’t think through all the scenarios,” Petrisky said. “I think this is going to cause some people to have questions and doubt the results. Even though I still feel like the Republican Party did a good job and I still think the numbers are going to come out right, I think the public is going to have questions.”

“I do think it’s being done correctly, but I do think it needs to be recounted to give everyone a sense of wellbeing,” he said.

 

While county political parties are responsible for conducting their respective primary elections, Calhoun County Elections Administrator Mary Ann Orta serves as the general custodian of election records.

Three tabulation options were available for this primary:

• Electronic tabulation for all ballots
• Electronic tabulation for mail and early voting ballots and hand-counting Election Day ballots
• Hand counting of all ballots

However, once the first ballot box was opened and counting began, the other two options were no longer available. Changing the tabulation method at that point would have required a court order.

By law, Orta and her staff could provide guidance but could not intervene in the party’s counting process. In essence, her hands were tied.

For days her staff waited for precinct returns so results could be reported to the state.

“One day bled into the next,” Orta said. “It was a long process.”

Calhoun County Republican Party Presiding Judge Russell Cain thanked volunteers who participated in the effort. 

“The Calhoun County Republican Party would like to thank the Calhoun County Elections Office and the Texas Secretary of State for their continual support and guidance during the Republican primary hand count,” Cain said. “We had about a hundred people devoted to this endeavor and appreciate their dedication and resilience throughout the counting process.” 

 

Manual counting is permitted under Texas law, but is rarely used in modern elections where electronic tabulation equipment is available.

Out of Texas’ 254 counties, Calhoun County was one of three counties in the state — along with Gillespie and Eastland — that chose to hand count ballots in the Republican primary.

Results for county Democrats, who used electronic voting equipment to tabulate ballots, were submitted to the state shortly after polls closed Tuesday night.

 

The results filed Friday remain unofficial until the county completes the canvass of the election, which will occur sometime after the Precinct 2 commissioner recount.

During the canvass, election officials review precinct returns and formally certify vote totals.