The race heats up
Backup plan? What the voting machine warehouse fire means for the gubernatorialelection
With just over seven weeks until early voting begins on Oct. 16, the entirety of Harris County's 10,000 electronic voting machines was destroyed in a massive three-alarm warehouse fire early Friday morning.
No injuries were reported in the blaze, which took three hours and 200 firefighters to subdue, but damages totaled about $40 million — $30 million of which is for the voting equipment.
Houston Fire Department arson inspectors were on the scene but have yet to establish a cause for the fire.
Harris County Clerk's office spokesman Hector De Leon says the county clerk has been in touch with the Texas Secretary of State and is reaching out to other jurisdictions to borrow voting equipment. De Leon says the contents of the warehouse were insured and getting ready to hold the election could involve a combination of buying replacement machines and borrowing what they can.
As a move from electronic ballot to a paper ballot or any other alternative ballot would require certification at the state level, De Leon says they are focusing on acquiring more eSlate machines.
Officials are encouraging voters to mail in a vote if eligible and participate in early voting to ease the strain on election day, Nov. 2.
