49,000 questionable names on Texas voter rolls 49,000 questionable names found on voter rolls

Auditors say none of them cast ballots in the May election

AUSTIN — State auditors found more than 49,000 potentially ineligible felons and dead people on Texas voter rolls this year, but did not find that any cast ballots in May's special election.

The audit report released Tuesday said that there may be even more potentially inaccurate voter information but they were unable to check for U.S. citizenship status or federal felony convictions or verify records that lacked a Social Security number and Texas driver's license number.

The audit recommended that the Secretary of State's Office do a better job of matching criminal conviction and death records with the voter list.

Although there were no instances found of potentially ineligible voters casting ballots in the May 12 special election, auditors noted the "relatively low 7 percent voter turnout" for that special constitutional amendment election to extend a school property tax cut to senior citizens and disabled homeowners.

Computer system at risk

The audit also found inadequate security controls over a new computer system that maintains voter records and weaknesses in data backup that increase the risk of prompt and full recovery of data from a disaster.

Scott Haywood, a spokesman for Secretary of State Phil Wilson, said the office has implemented many of the auditors' recommendations but wants to be careful about wrongly removing anyone from voter rolls.

He noted that the auditors were unable to verify that the 23,114 possible felons and 23,576 possibly deceased voters actually should be removed from voting lists.

"We can't remove someone from the voter roll unless it's a strong match because we don't want to take away an eligible voter's right to vote," Haywood said.

The audit said that potentially ineligible felons may be able to register because of the way the Secretary of State's Office processes data from the Department of Public Safety.

The office receives daily felony data updates from the DPS and weekly updates of death records from the Bureau of Vital Statistics. Those are matched one time against the voter rolls, but the SOS does not retain a comprehensive history of the records.

Thus, an ineligible felon could try to register at a later date, and the computer system would not flag the record as potentially ineligible, the audit said.

People convicted of felonies are eligible to vote once they have completed their sentences.

Hampered by privacy laws

Auditors tried to check for citizenship status but could not find authoritative information. They contacted the U.S. Social Security Administration to obtain the citizenship status but were told that federal privacy laws prohibit the disclosure.

The audit could provide fodder for supporters of legislation requiring voters to show a photo ID. Republicans were unable to pass photo ID bills over Democrats' opposition during this year's legislative session.

"This audit is further evidence that while our state and local elections officials are doing everything to secure the electoral process, additional safeguards as simple as requiring a photo ID to vote in Texas should be put back on the table next session and finally passed," said Hans Klingler, a spokesman for the Republican Party of Texas.

Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, said the audit didn't find any fraud had occurred in the May election. He said the ID requirement could suppress turnout among many Texans who are eligible to vote.

"Everytime someone says, 'Show me the fraud,' there isn't any," said Coleman.

The audit also found deficiencies in a computer system developed through contracts with IBM and Hart InterCivic that came online in January. The computer was slower than the previous system for six of 10 benchmarks, including adding and canceling voters and producing a list of registered voters and those who voted.

More than half of 204 county voter registration officials who responded to a survey said the Texas Election Administration Management system, known as TEAM, does not allow them to perform their jobs effectively.

Haywood said Wilson is working aggressively with the contractors to fix problems that arose in May. He said the system performed much better in the Nov. 6 election.

janet.elliott@chron.com