After more than 100 illegal voter registrations were confirmed by the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar’s Office during a review of voter rolls, Gov. Greg Abbott is threatening state action.
This discovery came shortly after Secretary of State Jane Nelson informed Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez that a review conducted on the county’s voter rolls found voters registering using private P.O. Box-style addresses, a violation of state election law.
According to Houston Public Media, more than 100 registrations have been linked to private addresses. Since their discovery, the registrar’s office has informed state officials that action was immediately taken after being notified of the issue with illegal registrations. If the registrants do not respond, they will be removed from the voter rolls and placed on the suspended list.
The Secretary of State has further requested that the registrar’s office review another list of an additional 126 voters.
Gov. Greg Abbott has criticized Harris County, calling them a “repeat violator of election integrity.” He added that “they should be stripped of operating elections and state officials should take over.”
The review began after an administrative complaint was filed by State Sen. Paul Bettencourt last fall to the Secretary of State. Bettencourt’s complaint alleged that voters had registered with their private P.O. box-style addresses rather than a physical address as required by state law.
Secretary of State Jane Nelson directed Harris County to take immediate action to correct the voter rolls and warned that the state could pursue administrative oversight if a pattern revealed problems in how the county maintains its voter rolls.
Abbott has also said that legal charges against Harris County should be considered.
