Harris County veteran goes viral after tearful TikTok post about nightmare voting experience

Lawren Johnson said she served in the military for 20 years and she takes her right to vote seriously. That’s why she got emotional when she couldn’t.

HOUSTON — There were a lot of frustrated voters in Harris County on Election Day after polling place issues led to long delays. In some cases, voters waited in line for hours only to be told they’d have to go somewhere else to vote.

That’s what happened to Lawren Johnson whose TikTok posts about her nightmare voting experience have gone viral.

Johnson said she served in the military for 20 years and she’s passionate about the right to vote. 

She was at the Sunnyside Multi-Service Center at 5 a.m. waiting in line for the polling place to open at 7 a.m. Instead, poll workers came out and told them their machines weren’t working. 

“There were old people standing in line and this isn’t right. We gotta do better. People should be able to vote,” Johnson said. 

RELATED: Polling place delays blamed on voting machine issues, supply shortages, missing key

She also met a young voter who was trying to cast a ballot for very the first time. 

 “I was in a state of disbelief, and I couldn’t help but just cry.”

She said the workers finally came back out around 7:30 a.m. and gave them a list of closer locations.

After posting the first tearful TikTok video, Johnson decided to try another location. But their machines were down too.

RELATED: UPDATE: Texas Supreme Court rules provisional votes cast in Harris County after 7 p.m. will not count

“We need to do better. I guess we do better by voting, right? I guess that’s the point,” Johnson said. 

Fed up, she went back to Sunnyside and shared her final update.

“I’m going to go vote. Sunnyside Multi-Service Center machines are up.”

At last check, Johnson’s TikTok videos had more than half a million views … and counting.

“I’m never one to just, you know, do a whole bunch of rah, rah, rah,” Johnson told us. “But being connected to things that we serve for, is, is really near and dear to my heart.”

She said protecting our right to vote is one of the reasons she signed up to serve in the military.

KHOU 11 learned the precinct judge closed the polling machines at Sunnyside rather than opening them up this morning so that’s what took so long to fix.

Brandi Smith on social media: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

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