The first time Bobby Robinson got kicked off Tarrant County鈥檚 voter roll, he thought it was a glitch.
That was in November. By early March, Robinson had been kicked off 鈥� and added back on 鈥� the county鈥檚 registry of voters two more times, he said. Today, his voter registration appears active online, but he鈥檚 not confident it鈥檒l stay that way when it comes time to cast a ballot.
Robinson, 46, has been an active voter in Tarrant County since moving to the area around 2005, according to his county voting record reviewed by the Fort Worth Report. Although the removals didn鈥檛 prevent him from voting in recent elections, he worries the repeated mistake could indicate a breach in election integrity and security.
鈥淚f we were voting for 鈥楢merican Idol鈥� and my vote didn鈥檛 get counted, that鈥檚 different 鈥� but this is about elections,鈥� Robinson said.
It鈥檚 unclear whether Robinson鈥檚 removal was a symptom of issues with the county or state鈥檚 software. Tarrant is an outlier among Texas counties for hiring a third-party vendor last year to help identify ineligible voters on the voter roll, political science experts told the Report.
Since contracting the outside vendor, the Tarrant County Elections Office mistakenly flagged at least one other voter鈥檚 registration: Fort Worth resident Andrew Sims-Kirkland, 39, who received a mailed notice from the county elections office asking him to confirm he was not dead.
Voters across Texas and the country have been as President Donald Trump鈥檚 administration seeks to mass-verify voter citizenship status in an effort to prevent noncitizens from voting illegally. Many states, including Texas, have uploaded their voter rolls to a new federal database that has since been .
Sims-Kirkland said he was able to verify with the elections office that he is alive but worries that other voters could be unknowingly purged from the voter roll, in a year marked by several consequential elections, including the midterms.
So far this year, Tarrant County voters have , flipping the historically GOP Texas Senate District 9 blue in a special election to fill a vacancy; chosen party nominees ; and weighed in on local in the May 2 local elections.
Tarrant County Republicans and Democrats alike have as pivotal in maintaining 鈥� or altering 鈥� the county鈥檚 historically red political profile. Long hailed as the nation鈥檚 largest urban red county, Tarrant County has trended purple in recent years, with voters narrowly supporting Democratic candidates at the top of the ticket.
Robinson and Sims-Kirkland are two drops in the bucket of Tarrant County鈥檚 1.3 million registered voters. But voter registration errors are nearly always cause for concern, political scientists and voting rights advocates told the Report.
鈥淚t鈥檚 concerning when voters who are legally allowed to vote are being kicked off the voter rolls,鈥� said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. 鈥淭here are a lot of ways in which this can happen. It can be human error, it can be computer error, but the bottom line is that the counties in the state have to do better at policing these voter rolls effectively.鈥�
Tarrant County Elections Administrator Clint Ludwig did not return phone calls or emails seeking comment.
County spokesperson Colby Erichsen did not directly respond to emailed questions about Robinson鈥檚 or Sims-Kirkland鈥檚 registration, the county鈥檚 process for identifying and verifying who to remove from the voter roll or how many individuals have been removed. He said via email that county officials routinely verify voter rolls through state-mandated processes that include removing the names of people who have changed addresses or died.
鈥淭hese procedures are essential components of (the elections office鈥檚) ongoing list (of) maintenance responsibilities, designed to ensure that Tarrant County鈥檚 voter registration records remain as accurate and up鈥憈o鈥慸ate as possible,鈥� Erichsen wrote in an email April 24.
Voters question challenges
Robinson said he didn鈥檛 know he鈥檇 been removed from the voter roll until he was looking for a polling location during the November 2025 election that featured the Senate District 9 election and 17 constitutional amendments. When poll workers couldn鈥檛 find him in the voter registry, he cast a provisional ballot.
Robinson couldn鈥檛 understand how he had been removed from the roll, he said, because he had updated his address, driver鈥檚 and gun licenses, plus voter registration since moving to a new home two years prior. He鈥檇 also been summoned to jury duty, he said.
After a series of phone calls to the elections office in November, Robinson was assured he was back on the rolls, he said.
In January, Robinson tried to cast a ballot in the Senate runoff. Once again, a poll worker told him he wasn鈥檛 registered. After calling the county elections office, Robinson was able to cast a ballot, he said.
Subsequently a detective from the county sheriff鈥檚 office called wanting to ask Robinson for more information about his voting status situation. Robinson said the interview resulted in an ongoing investigation.
A spokesperson for the Tarrant County Sheriff鈥檚 Office did not return a request for confirmation that Robinson鈥檚 voter registration is under investigation.
When the March primaries came, Robinson thought for sure that his registration would be active. Wrong again.
鈥淚 had to call them to be like, 鈥楴ow, this is like the third, fourth time, it鈥檚 getting kind of old. I don鈥檛 know what to do at this point. Who do I call?鈥欌�� Robinson said, remembering his phone call to the county elections office in March.
Robinson said county elections officials were able to override the system so he was able to cast his ballot, and instructed him to call the Texas Secretary of State if his registration failed another time.
Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State, declined to comment on Robinson鈥檚 or Sims-Kirkland鈥檚 situations, citing a need to gather information. Voters can check their registration status through the , she wrote in an emailed statement.
鈥淚f a voter is mistakenly removed, they can notify the voter registrar, and their registration will be reinstated with immediate effect,鈥� Pierce wrote.
Repeated removal from the county鈥檚 voter roll, whether intentional or not, is troubling because even small obstacles can have 鈥渁 chilling effect on overall voter participation,鈥� said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University.
鈥淭here鈥檚 some people who you can put as many barriers to voting in their way, and they鈥檙e always going to hurdle them. But then there鈥檚 another group of voters that with one minor barrier, that鈥檚 enough to keep them from exercising their right of suffrage,鈥� Jones said.
Sims-Kirkland, the Fort Worth voter, is in the first category Jones mentioned. The funeral home director of 10 years votes in most general elections and some primaries, according to his voting record reviewed by the Report. He never experienced an issue with his registration until last month, when he received the letter saying his registration closely matched information for a deceased person and asking him to verify he was alive.
Sims-Kirkland brought the letter to the county elections office the next day and verified his identity. Voter registrar Linda Herod-Rivas told Sims-Kirkland the county system may have flagged him as a deceased voter because his name appears on so many death certificates because of his job, Sims-Kirkland said.
鈥淎nd I said, 鈥榃ell, maybe they need new software because I sign a lot of death certificates, and it should not show me as being the deceased if I鈥檓 the funeral director,鈥欌�� Sims-Kirkland said.
When contacted by the Report on May 5, Herod-Rivas said she needed approval from a supervisor to speak to a reporter. She could not be reached after that.
Reason for changes unclear
Repeated removals from the voter roll and incorrect flagging of deceased voters potentially indicates faulty data or information processing by either the vendor managing the state鈥檚 voter roll or the one managing the county鈥檚, Jones and Rottinghaus said in separate interviews.
鈥淭he efforts of the state to try to aggressively police these voter rolls can often lead to mistakes, and these are the kinds of mistakes that they might make,鈥� Rottinghaus said.
Last summer, the Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved a one-year, $45,000 contract with Florida-based Interactive Data LLC to 鈥渁id the elections administration in identifying registered voters who have moved without notifying the office, use commercial addresses as residences or are deceased, enabling accurate determination of voter eligibility.鈥�
Commissioner Alisa Simmons, who is running for the countywide judge seat, was the lone no-vote against the contract. She did not return requests for comment.
A spokesperson for County Judge Tim O鈥橦are, who is seeking reelection, did not return a request for comment on whether the judge was aware of Tarrant voters being mistakenly removed from voter rolls, or whether he is addressing the issue.
Neither Jones nor Rottinghaus have heard of another county outsourcing such work, although Rottinghaus said he鈥檚 not surprised that a county 鈥渟trapped for time and money鈥� would consider the option.
Interactive Data uses an 鈥渆xtensive database鈥� that promises a 鈥渇uller picture of all consumers who have a footprint in the United States,鈥� according to its contract with the county.
The company uses 鈥渁dvanced data analytics tools and technologies鈥� to help its clients 鈥渦ncover hidden connections, perform risk assessments and make informed decisions鈥� throughout their investigations, according to the contract.
Megan Kappen, Interactive Data鈥檚 director of sales who is listed as the point of contact on the Tarrant County contract, did not return requests for comment.
In addition to reviewing the county鈥檚 voter rolls, Interactive Data鈥檚 recent contracts included gathering intelligence for the Fulton County Sheriff鈥檚 Office in Georgia to assist with investigations from 2023 to 2025; and cross-referencing addresses to find the owners of unclaimed goods for the Utah State Treasurer鈥檚 unclaimed property division from 2018 to 2026, according to county documents reviewed by the Report.
Traditionally, voters in Texas have remained registered to vote until their county receives formal notice that they have died or moved to a different county. But with a federal spotlight on elections integrity across the nation, Tarrant appears to be taking a more proactive approach to purging its voter roll, Jones said.
It鈥檚 unclear to Jones or Rottinghaus whether the errors with Robinson鈥檚 and Sims-Kirkland鈥檚 registration were due to the state鈥檚 software or the county鈥檚, or a combination of both.
At least 87 voters across 29 Texas counties have been as states across the country use a Department of Homeland Security tool called the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements, or SAVE, according to an investigation by ProPublica and The Texas Tribune published in February.
Last month, the Texas Secretary of State removed Domingo Garcia, a prominent immigration attorney in Dallas, from the county鈥檚 voter rolls because . The attorney is working to get his registration reinstated, according to WFAA.
Emphasizing the importance of voter integrity, Jones noted government-led efforts to crack down on alleged illegal voting can have an unintended impact on voter participation. How to weigh the pros and cons of that dynamic is a 鈥減hilosophical issue鈥� that state鈥檚 or county鈥檚 elections administrators may respond to differently.
鈥淭he more you work to make sure that people who shouldn鈥檛 be voting aren鈥檛 voting,鈥� Jones said, 鈥淭he more difficult you make it for people who should be voting to actually vote.鈥�
Cecilia Lenzen is a government accountability reporter for the Fort Worth Report. Contact her at cecilia.lenzen@fortworthreport.org.
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