Dallas College fights allegations of election wrongdoings in suit over $1 billion bond

The fate of a $1.1 billion bond package for Dallas College remains in limbo as school officials went to court Thursday to address concerns about election integrity.

Voters approved the bond package, which includes money for a new downtown Dallas campus with student housing, in May 2019. But soon after, former Dallas County sheriff candidate Kirk Launius filed a lawsuit against the school alleging miscounts and errors.

The college, formerly called the Dallas County Community College District, has been unable to spend the money until the suit is settled.

The bond passed with 71.46% of the vote, according to results from the Dallas County Elections Department. But Launius’ lawsuit contends that the outcome could be the result of electronic voting tabulation errors.

“We have evidence of irregularities,” Roger Borgelt, Launius’ attorney, said during a pretrial hearing Thursday. Later he added, “If there is enough evidence of fraud or mistake, then it is impossible to determine [if] the outcome of the election is valid and it can be overturned.”

Dallas College’s attorney, Carlos Lopez, argued that there is not enough evidence to support claims that errors invalidated the election results.

“We have a fundamental disagreement with the other side about what it is they have to prove in order to prevail here,” says Lopez. “In our view, they keep watering down the standard on what it is they have to prove.”

Lopez asked the judge to exclude one of the experts for the defense: a former 2014 candidate for Austin City Council, Laura Pressley. Since losing that election, she started a “cottage industry” of questioning election integrity, Lopez said.

“She filed an election contest in her candidacy for Austin City Council,” he said. “She was sanctioned by the trial court for bringing frivolous arguments, very similar to the type of arguments that are being asserted here.”

Lopez noted that Pressley formed the “Keep Texas in the Black” committee for the sole purpose of opposing the bond package a week before the election, and then appointed Launius as a poll watcher knowing he was also against the bond.

“She is out training poll watchers to look for irregularities, what she believes as irregularities,” Lopez said. “But, again, no one has trained her. This is what she has come up with on her own.”

Borgelt countered that Pressley is serving as an expert witness in two other election-related lawsuits.

“Her experience, which is being questioned in terms of election security and integrity, is extensive,” Borgelt argued.

Among his allegations, Launius contends that election officers counted illegal votes while failing to count legal ones. He alleges that poll watchers weren’t allowed to observe electronic votes being entered and counted.

Launius asserts that the true outcome of the election cannot be ascertained and wants the results invalidated and a new election called.

Diana Flores, chairwoman of Dallas College’s board of trustees, has denied all allegations made by Launius in the school’s response to the suit. The college wants the judge to dismiss the lawsuit.

The trial is set to officially begin on Dec. 3.

While court proceedings continue, the future of the bond and the timing of its distribution is still unknown.