Texas election officials have confirmed that Harris County’s voter registration rolls include individuals who listed post office boxes as their residential addresses, a violation of state law that could expose the county to penalties or direct state intervention if the issue is not corrected.
The confirmation comes after an investigation by the Texas Secretary of State’s Office (SOS), which was launched last year following an administrative complaint filed by state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston. Bettencourt’s complaint was based on a limited review of voter registrations that appeared to list commercial or postal mailboxes as residences.
“No one lives in a P.O. Box, and Texans cannot legally register to vote from one,” Bettencourt said in a statement. “It’s the law, and it’s been the law for four years in statute.”
According to Bettencourt’s analysis, 65 voters were registered at the same address on Westheimer Road, while another 59 were listed as residing at a single location on Waugh Drive. Bettencourt emphasized that his office reviewed only those two locations, but he believes the problem extends well beyond the 127 registrations identified.
Under Senate Bill 1113, passed in 2021, the Secretary of State has the authority to withhold state funding for voter registration operations if a county voter registrar fails to remove ineligible voters from the rolls. A more recent law, Senate Bill 1933, enacted in 2023, established a civil administrative review process that allows candidates and certain elected and party officials to file complaints directly with the SOS over alleged election irregularities. That law also gives the state the ability to initiate audits and, in extreme cases, appoint a conservator to oversee county election operations.
In November, Secretary of State Jane Nelson formally opened an investigation in response to Bettencourt’s complaint.
“I take the issues raised in this complaint very seriously, and my office will begin an immediate investigation,” Nelson said at the time. “If we find reason to believe the Harris County voter registrar is failing to protect voter rolls or is not operating in the good faith Texans deserve, we will not hesitate to take the next step toward state oversight.”
Harris County Voter Registrar Annette Ramirez pushed back on the complaint in a December 18 letter to the Secretary of State’s Office, arguing that Bettencourt lacked standing because the addresses he examined were outside his Senate district. While Ramirez acknowledged that registrations listing PO boxes existed on the rolls, she said the county would address them through formal address confirmation requests and documentation reviews. She also argued that Bettencourt’s complaint did not meet the threshold required to trigger enforcement under SB 1933.
That position was later rejected by state officials. Days after Ramirez’s letter, SOS Director of Elections Christina Adkins informed the county that it must also investigate additional commercial PO boxes previously identified during state audits of Harris County elections. Adkins further confirmed that Bettencourt’s complaint was properly filed under statute.
Bettencourt said his office has since received tips suggesting that similar issues may exist in other Texas counties.
“The SOS may have to expand its investigation to other counties if administrative complaints are filed in those cases,” he said.
He also suggested lawmakers could consider broadening SB 1933, which currently applies only to counties with populations of four million or more — a threshold that only Harris County meets — to ensure consistent enforcement statewide.
“Secretary Nelson can take action with Harris County because SB 1933 authorizes her to do so,” Bettencourt added.
Harris County has nearly 2.7 million registered voters, and while the number of questionable registrations identified so far is relatively small, election outcomes in the county have sometimes hinged on razor-thin margins. In 2022, Republican judicial candidate Tami Pierce filed an election contest after losing by 449 votes. Although Pierce initially prevailed in court, the case remained unresolved until her opponent, Judge DeSean Jones, resigned, leading Gov. Greg Abbott to appoint Pierce to the bench.
The scrutiny of voter roll maintenance in Texas also comes amid increased federal enforcement efforts. The Trump administration has recently moved to compel states to comply with federal requirements for maintaining accurate voter registration lists. Last month, the U.S. Department of Justice filed lawsuits against six states seeking access to voter registration records.
“Accurate voter rolls are the cornerstone of fair and free elections, and too many states have fallen into a pattern of noncompliance with basic voter roll maintenance,” Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
At least one lawsuit is already pending against Harris County over voter roll issues, but Bettencourt said the administrative process created by SB 1933 offers a faster alternative to prolonged court battles.
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