FILE - In this March 6, 2018 file photo, voters take to the polls in the primary election at West University Elementary in Houston. The ACLU and other groups slammed Texas elections officials who say they found 95,000 people identified as non-citizens who had a matching voter registration record. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton now says many of them could have become citizens and voted legally. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle via AP, File)
January 30, 2019 - 2:41 PM
AUSTIN, Texas - Election officials in Texas' largest county say they have already cleared about 18,000 voters in the Houston area who the state had wrongly flagged as potential noncitizens.
Harris County special assistant attorney Douglas Ray said Wednesday he expects to find more mistakes as the state backpedals on claims that tens of thousands of illegal ballots had potentially been cast since 1996.
Texas Secretary of State David Whitley said last week that roughly 95,000 voters matched records of noncitizens who had obtained state IDs. Republicans seized on the announcement to renew claims of widespread voter fraud.
But the numbers began unraveling Tuesday. That's when local officials say Whitley's office revealed to them the list was flawed.
Democratic lawmakers say they'll investigate. Whitley has not publicly acknowledged any error.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019