Despite errors, Houston certifies election results

Though there have been mistakes identified concerning the ballot and results of the October 1 election, the Houston City Council moved to certify the election results during a special city council meeting on Monday evening.

Some of the irregularities cited included missing signatures and omitted information on the Canvass Board Certificate, previously mentioned by write-in candidate Callie Courtney as reasons for contesting the results. She has since withdrawn her request, she said, out of respect for several council members who are dealing with personal family matters.

“Callie did confer with some of the city council members on Friday (October 11, 2024), understanding that two city officials are dealing with the loss of parents and another member is dealing with an ill parent. Callie feels, in good conscience, that pressing forward with the recount would not be in the city’s best interest. It would put election drama on the plate of those officials, taking away from where their focus should presently be-on family,” Deputy Mayor David Childs read from a letter from Courtney’s attorney Eric Conrad during the meeting.

“This statement puts in writing that a recount is not being pursued either.” The letter went on to say that this episode has been a teaching moment, and that there is hope for some positive will come from the situation.

Other inconsistencies raised by council and residents included an error on the ballot, specifically a question about the length of term that the candidate for Seat G would serve, which was listed on the ballots as three years when it is a one-year term.

That seat was open after former councilmember Mike Adams resigned in June and later filled by Laura Faubert during a special election. The term is scheduled to end in October, 2025.

Houston Municipal Code states that terms for council seats A and B are to expire on the same year, as well as seats C and D, and again for seats E, F, and G, all to allow for staggered terms.

Former councilmember Lance Wilson said that while the correction can be made using a simple resolution during the evening meeting, but said there is a bigger problem.

“There is a bigger problem. The ballots that we cast on October the first, all were in error. They had the wrong expiration date of Seat G listed on the ballot,” he said, adding that he wasn’t sure how to correct that, other than to table further action on certifying the election and suggested the city confer with legal advisors and state election officials.

Council members Sandy McDonald and Lisa Johansen said they could not vote to accept the results of an election that included a ballot error.

Council member Johansen raised the issue of a possible violation of the Open Meetings Act when a corrected version of the resolution stating the correct term of one year for Seat G was not made available online prior to the meeting.

“The public did not have ample time to look at the corrections to the resolution.”

Mayor Cole stated that the corrections were being made via amendment and that the city attorneys had reviewed the corrections and they were utilizing the recommendations that had been made, to which Johansen that the results for Seat G should be struck until the Board of Elections had responded regarding the ballot issue.

The amendment, proposed by council member McDonald, that would have allowed the council to approve all of the election results except those for Seat G was ultimately defeated after initially receiving equal votes, with council members Jeff Brasel, McDonald and Johansen voting in favor of the amendment, and Cole, Childs, and Kent Mitchell opposed, while council member Faubert recused herself from the vote as it concerned her election results.

“I don’t see how it would make any difference in the election at all, whether it was on the ballot or not, whether you’re voting as a write-in or for council member Faubert, I don’t see that it makes any difference on the outcome whatsoever,” council member Mitchell said.

Mayor Cole later echoed those sentiments, adding, “Council member Faubert filled out her application. She did everything she was supposed to do. Whether it was printer error, whether it was anything else, it’s not going to change the election results.”

When asked about the source of the error on the ballot, City Clerk Tami Schoneman said she did not know whether the term length error on the ballots was the result of the printer, or if she had made the mistake when submitting the ballot.

“This is election integrity, and I apologize that our council does not see this as important. It’s a major, important issue. And this is not the only mistake,” McDonald said, adding that the paperwork from the Canvass Board is still incomplete and that the board should have reconvened to address missing information before certifying the results. She also took issue with lack of properly published election information.

“If the council chooses to certify this election, this is showing great disrespect to the people of this community where we cannot transparently hold an election and get our numbers straight, and they’re supposed to trust us.”

Mayor Cole said that after Courtney’s retraction of her complaint and upon reading the code and information, he saw no reason to postpone the certification.

City Clerk Schoneman administered this year’s Houston election. It was her first municipal election in Houston.

“I apologize for the confusion in the election numbers. We will be updating the forms, rewriting sections of the code for the election, and it will be a better election next year,” she said during Monday’s meeting. She promised to correct the errors in the future.

“All discrepancies on ballots should be taken seriously,” said council member Johansen, who added that she plans to report the ballot issues to election oversight officials. “I’m going to make sure that this ballot issue is brought to the necessary levels to ensure that whatever ramifications come from it are dealt with, whether there are none or there are. It’s an issue that needs to be dealt with and should not be ignored.”

Ultimately, councilmembers voted 5-2 to certify the election results, and incumbent council members Cole and Mitchell were sworn in to three-year terms, while Faubert was sworn in to a one-year term.

“I am very much looking forward to having this in the background so we can get back to city business. We’ve got a lot to do,” said Deputy Mayor Childs.

Meanwhile, an additional item on the agenda-the selecting of a mayor and deputy mayor were postponed until October 21 during a special city council meeting, to be held at Houston City Hall at 6 p.m.