State blocks county funding in 'dead' voters spat

Harris County election officials got a bit of a surprise Friday morning when they attempted to open the county's spending account on the Texas Secretary of State's office website and found their access blocked. State officials have temporarily cut off the county's voter registration funding.

"We received verification from (state election division Director) Keith Ingram that funding was being held up," said Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector Don Sumners.

Secretary of State spokesman Rich Parsons said state officials halted funding Tuesday after learning that Sumners refused to purge deceased voters from the voter rolls as required by federal and state law.

Sumners, who also serves as the county's voter registrar, said Monday that he would not remove "dead" voters until after the Nov. 6 election. He said a statewide list of about 80,000 deceased voters generated by the Secretary of State's office is too unreliable. Sumners said the secretary of state's block of voter registration funds would not change his mind.

He said his office received about 300 complaints from presumed dead voters on Monday, after it sent letters to 9,018 residents notifying them that they may be dead and at risk of having their registrations canceled.

Troubles in Dallas

On Wednesday, Dallas County Election Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole also decided not to purge voters until after the election. Pippins-Poole said her office does not have the staff or the time to verify the names on the state's list.

Parsons said Ingram clearly communicated the state's position to Sumners in a letter dated Tuesday. Ingram advised Sumners that as a voter registrar he is required to cooperate with the state in maintaining a statewide voter registration list. The letter also pointed out that failure to comply means the registrar is not entitled to receive voter registration funds, per state election code.

Under state law, counties are paid based on the number of voters on the rolls, as well as those cancelled, updated or newly registered the previous year, with higher payments in even-numbered years. The funds must be used to help register voters and update registrations. They also can be used to pay for equipment and to pay for temporary election workers.

Sumners' office collected about $711,000 in fiscal 2010 and about $66,000 in 2011. It has received about $31,000 of an expected $732,404 so far this year, Parsons said.

The spending account on the state agency's website enables registrars to track voter registration funding expenditures and to submit reimbursement claims.

Sumners said the county needs the money to pay $7,500 in weekly wages to 18 temporary workers and to cover other costs.

"It will have a pretty dramatic effect on ability to process the work we need to do and other documents we need to complete to produce voter roll for the November election," he said.

He said county election officials would meet with the County Attorney Vince Ryan to determine the next move.

Lawsuit threatened

Ryan responded to Ingram's letter Wednesday. He said that his office reviewed Sumners' and the county's actions and was confident that neither had violated federal or state law.

"The letter did not cite any specific statute or rule that was allegedly violated nor does it state any basis for denial of funds under (Texas Election Code) 18.064," Ryan wrote.

He also threatened to sue the state if it attempts "to withhold funds without a proper legal basis."

renee.lee@chron.com