This article was first published by The Texas Tribune , a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.
Texas voters have less than a month to register for the Nov. 5 election.
But as county elections officials work to get more people registered, more than 1 million voters have been deemed ineligible. That includes people who moved out of state or are dead — and it’s a routine process.
“We do list maintenance every single day,” said Trudy Hancock, the Elections Administrator for Brazos County. “So you know it’s not something that’s happened just overnight and something that’s been put in place, but it is important to check your registration.”
Gov. Greg Abbott issued a press release last month touting the removal of ineligible voters, claiming some of them were possibly noncitizens. Experts quickly warned the governor’s framing could be used to undermine trust in elections. At the same time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has sued to stop two urban counties from sending voter registration forms to people who are eligible to vote, claiming state law doesn’t allow that kind of outreach and it would risk adding noncitizens to the voter rolls.