Texas Association of County Elections Officials (TACEO) Wednesday reassured voters that election officials are “diligently executing comprehensive, legally mandated list maintenance programs designed to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the state’s voter rolls.”
The statement followed Texas Secretary of State (SOS) Jane Nelson’s Monday announcement that some 2,724 “potential noncitizens” and deceased individuals are registered to vote in Texas.
According to data on the SOS website, 10 of those individuals/deceased are in Comal County.
Nelson said SOS completed a full comparison of the state’s voter registration list against citizenship data in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database.
She ordered Texas counties to conduct their own investigations into the eligibility of these voters.
Comal County Clerk Bobbie Koepp fired back at these allegations.
“The foundation of Texas elections lies in accurate voter registration rolls, and our county election officials are committed to upholding that standard every single day,” she said. “The efforts being highlighted publicly are not extraordinary events; they are the result of the rigorous, continuous, and multi-layered processes that Texas law requires to protect the sanctity of the vote.”
Voter registrars in all 254 Texas counties are required by Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code and federal law (including the National Voter Registration Act) to maintain clean and current rolls through a variety of systematic processes.
Koepp said this work is performed year-round, pausing only during federally mandated moratorium periods before major elections.
Meanwhile, Texas Democratic Party County Chairman Kendall Scudder criticized the SOS for not doing enough to educate voters about the Nov. 4 election.
“These problems have been reported and known for months — early voting is underway, and Election Day is in two weeks,” he said. “Voters have a right to understand their voting process and the SOS’s office is failing to meet that change.”
“What we need to be assured of now is that every county is going to be ready for the Nov. 4 election,” said Kay Parr, president of the Texas Democratic County Chair Association.
The Republican Party of Texas did not comment on the SOS’s demand for an open investigation.
How Voter Verification Works
According to Koepp, removal of deceased voters is a time-sensitive, ongoing process involving mandatory data cross-checks:
• State Vital Records: County registrars receive weekly and monthly information from local registrars of death and the Texas Department of State Health Services (via SOS) regarding deceased residents 18 years of age or older.
• Court Records: Clerks of courts with probate jurisdiction file abstracts of death with registrars upon receiving applications for wills, administrations, or heirship.
• Federal Data: The Secretary of State also obtains quarterly death information from the U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
A voter’s registration is immediately canceled upon the conclusive determination of death from these reliable sources.
In Texas, only U.S. citizens are eligible to register and vote. The process for investigating potential non-citizens is strictly governed by law and prioritizes due process for the voter:
1. Data Acquisition: SOS regularly obtains data from multiple sources, including the Department of Public Safety (DPS) records related to driver’s license or state ID applications where individuals identified themselves as non-citizens, and the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database.
2. Referral and Investigation: Any individual flagged as a potential non-citizen is immediately referred to the county voter registrar for mandatory investigation.
3. Voter Notification: The county voter registrar is required to send a written Notice of Examination to the flagged voter.
4. Due Process: The voter is then given a minimum of 30 days to respond and provide proof of U.S. citizenship to the registrar.
5. Cancellation: Only if the voter fails to provide proof within the mandated period, or if the investigation conclusively confirms ineligibility, is the voter registration canceled.
“This due process requirement is critical. It protects the voting rights of naturalized citizens who may have been mistakenly flagged or who may simply have outdated information in a state or federal database,” Koepp added. “Our local officials follow the law precisely to ensure that we are removing the ineligible while fiercely protecting every qualified Texan’s right to vote.”
TACEO urges all voters who receive official correspondence from their local voter registrar to respond promptly to maintain their current, active registration status.
About TACEO: The Texas Association of County Elections Officials is a professional organization dedicated to providing education, certification, and legislative guidance to Texas’s county election administrators, voter registrars, and clerks to promote fair, efficient, and accurate elections across the state.