As Texas Democrats continue to push for all mail-in ballots this November, Harris County is discovering it sent applications to people who died nearly a decade ago.
Paul Driscoll says he was shocked to find a mail-in ballot application in his mailbox last month, especially when he saw who it was addressed to.
“My father passed away in 2011 and about 10 days ago I received a mail-in ballot application for my father, and of course he’s been deceased for nine years,” Driscoll told KTRH News.
Driscoll says he immediately contacted the county registrar's office, and was told he wasn't alone. He says numerous other people called in with the same concern.
“I informed her he’s been deceased since 2011, so now I have to fill out a form or something and send it in to get him taken off the voter rolls,” he says.
Harris County GOP Chairman Paul Simpson says that's not the point.
“There’s no voter ID with mail ballots,” he says.“That’s one of the reasons Democrats want to use them, because they can circumvent laws we have to ensure integrity of the vote.”
Simpson says anyone could fill out the application, sign it and mail it back to receive an extra ballot.
“The county clerk used taxpayer dollars to send out an application for mail-in ballots to every name on the voter rolls 65-years and older,” he says.“The challenge with that is you don’t know if that person still lives in Harris County or if they’re still alive.”
The U.S. Supreme Court could hear arguments over mail-in ballots next month.