One small group of residents has challenged more than 17,000 voter registrations in Denton County

The elections administrator says one person has challenged between 5,000 and 6,000 voters as part of an effort from a group tied to lawsuits over the 2020 election.

Author: Cole Sullivan

Published: 6:16 PM CDT August 5, 2024

Updated: 6:26 PM CDT August 5, 2024

DENTON, Texas — A small group -- estimated at fewer than two dozen people -- have challenged more than 17,000 voter registrations in Denton County as part of a voter roll examination effort from a group that has filed lawsuits challenging the veracity of 2020 election results, the county elections administrator said Monday.

"I have no doubt that some of these [challengers] just don’t trust the process," Phillips said. 

Of the thousands of challenges he's reviewed, Phillips said about 75% to 80% do not present issues or have already been addressed by internal processes. The remainder he said he works to verify -- often by sending voters a postcard to ask them to verify their address. 

"We're not just canceling voters," Phillips said. 

He said voters may end up on a "suspense" list, which means they will have to fill out an address verification when they show up to vote -- or may eventually be removed from the voter rolls if they fail to vote over several years. 

"If you don’t know to check, you might not even notice that you got removed," said Kristine Bray, who registers voters in Denton County and worries the True the Vote process may lead to legitimate voters being removed from the rolls. 

"It seems like there’s just a lot of stuff that’s geared toward making it harder for folks to vote even if they have a completely legitimate right to vote," Bray said.

CNN reports the effort is not limited to Denton County -- and said True the Vote workers have inundated elections administrators across the country with registration challenges.

Phillips said he has heard of similar increases in challenges from his peers in neighboring counties as well. Although it has meant hours of additional work in the lead up to the election, he said he doesn't mind.

"I mean it has been a lot to deal with, but I can’t fault someone from trying to help clean up a voter roll," he said.