The story is the same across the state: long lines at early voting locations. Record turn-outs. Unusually high voter participation for Day One of early voting. While good for democracy to have a high turn-out, for the sake of this democracy we are left to merely hope every ballot case is legitimate.
The Houston Chronicle reports today that early voting “certainly will eclipse” the 2004 turn-out.
But remember, it was recently revealed by Texas Watchdog that in Harris County a dead woman voted in the primary election — two years after she died.
According to the group’s investigation, “more than 4,000 people whose names are listed both on Harris County’s voter rolls and also in a federal database of death records.”
That many votes could easily sway a race for the Texas House, the State Senate… Even the U.S. Congress.
Early voting’s great (I was one of those people at the courthouse at 7 a.m. to be first in line), but even better is voting integrity.
Hopefully Texas lawmakers can get our voter verification system at least up on par with Mexico — where they have the good sense to demand that only living citizens participate in their elections.
