Dallas voter says poll workers tried to take back her ballot after waiting hours in line to vote in primary

What should have been a routine trip to the polls on election night turned into a frustrating ordeal for Dallas County voter Kerra Scott.

Confusion at polling locations

Scott said she waited more than four hours to vote Tuesday night after missing early voting because she had been hospitalized. But after finally receiving her Democratic primary ballot, she said election workers asked her to return it.

"A group of people just standing there, literally dumbstruck as to how you could ask me to give you a blank ballot in my name that has my information all over it," Scott said.

The confusion began earlier in the evening, she said, when she was turned away from her usual polling place at the Lancaster Veterans Memorial Library.

By the time she arrived at the correct polling location at Houston Elementary School, it was nearly 6 p.m. and hundreds of voters were already waiting in line.

In Texas primaries, political parties run their own elections. This year, Republicans in Dallas County did not use countywide voting centers, meaning voters had to cast ballots at their assigned precinct locations.

Scott said she believed that because she was already in line before the deadline, she would still be able to vote.

Last-minute legal decisions created uncertainty for workers  

Inside the polling location, she was given a provisional ballot. But after the Texas Supreme Court overturned a lower court order that extended voting hours, Scott said the situation inside the polling place quickly became chaotic.

Carolyn Morris, who has served as a Democratic precinct judge in Lancaster for 30 years, said the night was unlike anything she had experienced.

"It was terrible. I've never seen anything like it," Morris said, "which led me to strongly believe this was just more than chaos."

The Dallas County Elections Department said it is reviewing what happened.

In a statement, the department said "the court order, and the subsequent Texas Supreme Court stay, may have caused confusion for a number of election workers."

The department added that it is reviewing the situation with the election workers assigned to that polling location.

After waiting hours in line, Scott said the experience left her feeling like her community's voice was not heard.

"Absolutely not. Especially at that location," she said.