Parker, Palo Pinto county elections administrators report busy but incident-free election day

Nov. 7—MINERAL WELLS — Voting was steady on Tuesday at the main poll in Palo Pinto County, one of eight Texas counties to see Department of Justice officers monitoring the election.

"It was good," Elections Administrator Laura Watkins said Wednesday. "We were just very busy."

Watkins reported 13,307 voters cast ballots in early and election day voting. That's a little more than 66% of the county's 20,126 registered voters.

And it was up from 12,541 in 2020, the last presidential election year.

Watkins said the Justice Department had called to let her know three officers would be coming. She said she saw them on Tuesday but did not have any interaction.

The trio of observers was relegated to the parking lot after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said the federal observers would not be allowed inside the polls.

The Mineral Wells poll has been ground zero since the March primaries for a dispute over so-called illegal electioneering.

Voter complaints of aggressive campaigning in the parking lot last spring prompted county commissioners to enact limits on where the partisans can do their campaigning.

That prompted the Conservatives of Palo Pinto County to sue in federal court, where they got a win last month by having an injunction on their activities removed by the federal judge overseeing the case.

"The reason I'm here is they tried to tell me I couldn't be," Brandon Johnson said Tuesday, as he and others prepared to grill tailgate hotdogs inside the designated electioneering area. "If we don't stand on our rights and express them, then we won't have them."

In Weatherford, Parker County Elections Administrator Crickett Miller reported that crowds showing up for early voting did not translate to Election Day.

"We had an impressive early voting turnout for this election," Miller said, describing lines forming at most early voting sites — especially during the first week.

"With the tremendous early vote turnout, we planned for a busy election day," she added. "The numbers did not hold up to what we were expecting."

Miller reported 72,818 people voting early during the two-week window. Another 15,270 on Election Day, plus mail-in balloting, brought the Parker County turnout to 90,729.

That's slightly more than 71% of the county's 127,591 registered voters.

Miller said Election Day and its run-up were drama-free for her staff.

"We did not have any incidents at any of the locations, and the staff had no reason to be concerned for their safety," she said. "We have an exceptional crew that works for Parker County Elections — from our election workers, maintenance department, precinct staff, IT, and the staff in this office. I will also include all of the other offices that work at the Courthouse Annex where we hold early voting."

Watkins also reported her staff had not been harassed or threatened this election season.

"Everything was good," she said specifically of Tuesday. "It was a pleasant, busy day."