Overview
- In a Dec. 23 letter, the Texas Secretary of State validated Sen. Paul Bettencourt’s administrative complaint and confirmed some Harris County registrations used private mailbox or P.O. box addresses.
- The state directed corrective action and supplied a list of 127 additional private-mailbox locations identified in a 2021–2022 audit, giving the county 30 days to respond.
- The Harris County Tax Office disputes any violations, says it acted diligently once notified, and cites state correspondence acknowledging its timely list-maintenance efforts.
- Flagged registrations are not automatically removed under Texas law, and affected voters are to be notified to confirm or update residence information; the state has not said ballots were improperly cast.
- Bettencourt said his office first found more than 60 active registrations at two UPS locations in November, and the registrar later reported identifying 125 such voters, including 16 already in suspended status.