TYLER, Texas — Smith County admitted to connectivity problems with elections workers and the county’s system during the November 5 election last week, but the problem did not end there.
“We should have deployed more machines, we should have had more early voting locations,” said Smith County Judge Nathaniel Moran. "We simply failed to live up to our own expectations.”
During Tuesday’s Commissioner’s Court meeting, Nancy Nichols an elections clerk, spoke about a new issue.
“Ruben was not allowed to vote and he will never vote again," Nichols said.
Ruben Gutierrez was the precinct chair of the Smith County Democratic Club and a voting rights activist.
Gutierrez was in the hospital from complications with Legionnaires Disease the week before the election.
“He was told that he will be in the hospital for a week or more, thus unable to go to the polls," Nichols explained.
She told the county leaders about someone trying to pick up an emergency ballot from the Elections Administration Office and being denied at first.
"Election Protection had to be called and the attorney with the Texas Civil Rights Project called the election administrator,” Nichols said. “This process took hours."
During that time, Nichols says Gutierrez would go from talking with friends and family to being placed on life support in critical condition. He died three days after the election.
Moran says he was unaware of Gutierrez’s situation, but the county is investigating complaints and issues received about the November 5 election.
“Again, we just did not fulfill our obligations to the level that we should have last week, we should have done better and we will do better."