Texas ‘dead’ voter flap heads before state judge

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A state district judge is set to determine whether Texas counties must help purge a list of 81,000 potentially dead voters before the November election.

Voting registrars in Dallas and Houston have refused. State elections officials want a judge in Austin on Thursday to uphold a law they say requires counties to check voter rolls against the Social Security Administration’s death index.

That index is known to have errors, and voters statewide have received letters instructing them to basically prove they’re alive in order to remain on the voting rolls.

Some counties and Democrats worry the process will disenfranchise voters. The Texas secretary of state’s office argues the new law passed overwhelmingly and that voters won’t be turned away on Election Day if they don’t respond to the letter.