No, 120-year-olds did not vote in Harris County in November
A record 1.7 million Harris County voters participated in the November general election, shattering the mark set four years ago by 318,000, despite the coronavirus pandemic.
A close examination of the voter roster kept by the county clerk reveals something quite peculiar, however: 303 voters with a birth year of 1900. Five, according to the list, were born in 1901.
Considering that the current oldest living person was born in 1903, lives in Japan and is ineligible to vote in Harris County, how is this possible? Is this longsought evidence of election fraud?
The reality, as in most cases where government documents appear amiss, is straightforward incompetence. Before 2002, the county tax assessor’s voter registration did not require residents to include their birth date, Assistant County Attorney Doug Ray said. Instead, the form merely asked voters to affirm they were at least 18 years old. So, on internal records, clerks listed a placeholder birth year of 1900 or 1901.
Instead of proactively fixing the problem, the tax assessor’s office asked voters who had yet to submit their birth dates to do so when updating their regis
Before 2002, voters were asked to affirm they were at least 18 years old. On internal records, clerks listed a placeholder birth year of 1900 or 1901.
tration for a different reason, such as a change of address or while applying for a driver’s license.
That lax approach has left 2,155 voters with a listed birth year of 1900 or1901 as of lastmonth, county records show.
“We’ve mostly caught up, but there are still people in the systemwhere we don’t know what their birth date is,” Ray said. “If they haven’t had any reason to contact us since 2002, we wouldn’t have gotten it.”
Harris County inNovember opened an elections administration office, which took over voter registration from the tax assessor. Isabel Longoria, the newly installed head of the office, said her team is working to modernize every step of the voting process.
“This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to start a whole new department, and we want to get all the details right from the start,” Longoria said.
She did not lay out a specific plan or timeline to correct the mislabeled birth years.
Aside from the fictitious 120-year- olds, plenty of actual centenarians voted in the Nov. 3 election. Excluding 1900 and 1901 birth years, 218 voters in the Nov. 3 election were born before 1921.
Determining the oldest voter, however, is difficult. According to the election roster, that title belongs to Anna L. Thomas of Katy, whose listed birth year is 1903. That wouldmake her the oldest living American by two years, however, which suggests her voter registration is likely to be inaccurate.
The more likely candidate is 111-year- old Elizabeth Francis, whose 110th birthday party last year was attended byMayor Sylvester Turner, one of her neighbors in Acres Homes.