Clerk denies any wrongdoing and says she felt threatened by a poll watcher
JEFF DAVIS COUNTY — A primary candidate for Jeff Davis County constable, King Merritt, has filed a complaint with the Texas secretary of state against County Clerk Jennifer Wright alleging she improperly booted a poll watcher from a polling place and then used law enforcement to ban the candidate from her office building. The county clerk told The Big Bend Sentinel that much of the conflict that ensued was due to Merritt’s behavior and improper paperwork from the poll watcher.
Merritt, a county deputy, lost in the Republican primary constable election to incumbent Mike Wright 342 to 237 on March 5, but said improper actions by Wright’s wife — County Clerk Jennifer Wright — make him doubt the reliability of vote totals. Merritt said when realized he would be running against a candidate whose spouse was in charge of administering the election he went through the official process of designating a poll observer, Jeff Davis County resident Michael Cox.
Cox said he filled out the paperwork required by state law to be a poll watcher and checked in at the early polling place at the clerk’s office on N. Front Street (the county clerk’s office) on March 1, was sworn in by an election official and was ready to begin his duties. Shortly after, an election worker told him to leave because she said his paperwork was incorrect, he said.
Merritt said he went to Jennifer Wright’s office to ask her why she took the action to make Cox leave, and she told him that the paperwork identified the location for the observer as the Central Counting Station, whereas it was serving as the early voting location on that day and not a counting station. When he objected and noted that the physical address was the same, the conversation became tense, and Merritt said he left to avoid a confrontation.
Jennifer Wright disputed that account and said Merritt immediately became loud and disruptive. “I had voters in the back, and I felt the way he raised his voice and shook his hand and finger at me,” she said. “I felt threatened.” The clerk said she called the sheriff to report the encounter and that the sheriff decided to send over Chief Deputy Jerry Walker, Merritt’s supervisor, to advise Merritt that he should not visit the polling location again.
Merritt said it was Jennifer Wright who immediately became agitated. He said he had already voted early but saw the directions from Deputy Walker as essentially a “criminal trespass warning” that prevented him from filing necessary campaign finance paperwork in the days following.
The county clerk said the matter could have been resolved easily with an apology from Merritt and a promise to respect the clerk’s office, and he would have been free to return. She said she was surprised that Merritt filed a complaint.
Merritt said he finds it odd that Mike Wright received 94 more votes in the recent primary than he did in the 2020 primary, despite voter turnout and population declines. “When you’re going to do something that you’re not supposed to do, you want to do it in secret, and you don’t want to be seen,” Merritt said. “And I think at the end of the day, that was really what it was all about.” The complaint filed with the secretary of state alleges violations of election codes ranging from misdemeanors to felonies. The secretary of state could not confirm receipt of the complaint immediately, but Merritt provided The Sentinel with a copy.
Cox said he was able to return as an observer on election day after correcting the address description on his paperwork, although at the end of the night he wasn’t allowed to be in the room when the ballot machines were taken down and data was taken to transfer to final counting, so he said he watched through a window.
Jennifer Wright agreed that things went smoothly on election day. She emphasized that the paperwork for the poll watcher needs to reflect what they are intending to watch, not just the location. “We weren’t at Central Counting Station,” she said. “That’s not what was taking place.” She added that Cox failed to sign one section of the form he submitted.
Mike Wright said Wednesday he was unaware of the complaint and wasn’t involved in anything that happened between Merritt and his wife. He said he doesn’t have an explanation for getting more votes than in 2020. A Sentinel analysis of 2024 primary vote totals and registered voters for the county made it clear that the victory margin Mike Wright received was not out of the ordinary in comparison to an overall election total in another race; the highest total votes cast for a county-wide race was 626 for the sheriff contest, and 579 were cast for the constable position. Only 456 votes were cast in the 2020 constable primary race, 123 fewer than in 2024. However, that race featured two newcomers to the political scene — Wright and Tommy Jackson — and the sheriff’s race was uncontested. The 2024 sheriff’s race with four well-known contenders could have spurred more votes in the constable contest.
Cox said the issue goes beyond the actual integrity of the election, and now he is uncomfortable with the idea of serving as a poll watcher again. “My position is that I was doing a public service,” he said. “I understand that these people who are in these positions are public servants. And my understanding is that they should encourage people like me to get involved in the process. Which means they gotta be willing to invite other people, other eyes, to watch them to make sure everything’s on the up and up.”
Jennifer Wright said she feels the initial action to remove the poll watcher was valid and that Merritt blew the issue out of proportion. “I truly think it’s a huge misunderstanding, and Mr. Merritt is just taking it the wrong way,” she said.