Ben Laizure sent the following letter to Dallas Voice, expressing concerns over the possibility that certain voters were being purged from the registration rolls after the Trump administration demanded Texas voter registration information and Gov. Greg Abbott sent that information to federal officials.
Laizure has since said he has located and confirmed his voter registration information, but his concerns that some voters have been removed from the rolls persists:
“I wanted to reach out regarding concerns about voter ‘purging’ in Texas. After seeing an article about Texas handing over our voter information to the federal government, I went to the Texas voter verification and registration website to make sure nothing untoward had occurred. My fears were realized when I was unable to find my voter registration, even using my Texas driver’s license and voter number.
“I have been a registered voter in Texas for more than a decade and am active in all elections. I last voted in October and had no issue. I am a resident and all of my information had been kept up-to-date and accurate.
“I am concerned that this may be a nasty trend to keep registered Democrats from voting. I received no notification that I was being unregistered. The deadline to register is Monday Feb. 2, and Texas requires you print and mail in the registration.
“I wanted to share this in case others haven’t yet seen this happening.
“Thanks,
“Ben Laizure”
Checking your registration status and registering to vote
A number of websites exist where voters can check to make sure they are properly registered to vote, including the Texas Secretary of State website and Vote.org.
If you are not registered to vote, you can register online at the Texas Secretary of State’s VoteTexas.gov website.
Important dates to remember
• Last day to register to vote in the primaries: Monday, Feb. 2
• First day of early voting: Tuesday, Feb. 17 (First business day after President’s Day)
• Last day to apply for ballot by mail (received, not postmarked): Friday, Feb. 20
• Last day of early voting: Friday, Feb. 27
• Last day to receive ballot by mail: Tuesday, March 3 (Election Day) at 7 p.m. if carrier envelope is not postmarked, OR Wednesday, March 4, (next business day after Election Day) at 5 p.m. if carrier envelope is postmarked by 7 p.m. at the location of the election on Election Day (unless overseas or military voter deadlines apply)
— Tammye Nash