Official leaves secretary of state’s office amid controversy

AUSTIN — An official who managed voter registration at the Texas secretary of state’s office left last week amid ongoing scrutiny of the office’s controversial attempt to purge suspected noncitizens from Texas voter rolls.

Betsy Schonhoff resigned on Feb. 6 and gave no reason, according to documents provided by the office. She couldn’t be reached for comment.

Emails show Schonhoff had worked with the Department of Public Safety to compare voter information with driver’s license data in a process that ended up wrongly flagging thousands of U.S. citizens.

Secretary of State David Whitley apologized to lawmakers in a letter this week saying the list of 95,000 should have been reviewed more carefully before its release to county election officials, who quickly spotted errors .

Spokesman Sam Taylor confirmed her resignation, which was first reported by the Dallas Morning News.

In an exit interview, Schonhoff said that “the Elections Division has consistently overperformed against overwhelming odds and I am honored to have been a part of that.”

The secretary of state’s office has been under scrutiny since sending county election officials the list in January with instruc-

tions to notify those voters that they would be removed from the rolls unless they prove U.S. citizenship.

The effort drew lawsuits from civil rights advocacy groups, who said the attempted purge was meant to intimidate minority voters.

Lawmakers have questioned Whitley, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in December but must still be confirmed by the state Senate. A committee vote on his nomination was delayed this week.

Schonhoff had worked as the voter registration manager since 2012, Taylor said. Bexar County Elections Administrator Jacque Callanen said her departure will be a big loss. “Nobody knew the system better than she did,” Callanen said.