Harris County rejecting fewer voters, but Dems want proof

By Lise Olsen

Updated 09:01 p.m., Thursday, March 29, 2012

Harris County officials have rejected far fewer would-be voters since 2008, but Democrats are demanding more proof that voter rolls are not being illegally suppressed – particularly among Hispanics – as another U.S. presidential election approaches.

The two sides will meet in secret mediation Friday as Democratic officials seek assurances the county is following the terms of a 2009 settlement reached after the party challenged Harris County voter reviews in a federal lawsuit. The county’s voter registrations have remained fairly flat at about 1.9 million since 2008, failing to keep pace with a boom in the eligible voting population.

"Harris County continues to fall behind other large cities. Harris County rejects far too many applications and removes far too many eligible voters from the rolls," Chad Dunn, an attorney for the Democrats, told the Houston Chronicle.

The Chronicle’s own analysis of voter registration data shows county officials denied about 39,000 applications in the last three years – far fewer than the 70,000 rejected as ineligible or incomplete in 2008. Of applications received in 2009 to 2011, about 14 percent were not immediately accepted. A slightly higher percentage of voters with Hispanic last names had applications denied, the Chronicle’s analysis shows.

In an interview, Harris County Tax Assessor Don Sumners said his staff must follow Texas election laws and reject anyone ineligible to vote because of age, citizenship status or felony convictions.

Applicants who omit required information or supply invalid or illegible data are sent a "notice of incomplete" and a new application. Most reapply.

"I will attend the mediation in hopes of finally seeing some evidence supporting Mr. Dunn’s rehashed allegations," Sumners said in a follow-up email. "I expect to find the Democrats have no more evidence than they had in 2008 and 2009 when, after months of reviewing tens of thousands of documents, Mr. Dunn was unable to produce a single person who was improperly denied the right to vote."

Reviewing applications

Sumners said he believes more applicants were rejected in 2008 primarily because a group of deputy voter registrars working for nonprofit groups turned in thousands of duplicate, illegible or incomplete applications.

CONTINUED

Harris County rejecting fewer voters, but Dems want proof – Houston Chronicle