Daisy Espinoza / Houston Public Media
The Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar’s Office has found more than 100 voter registrations linked to private post office boxes, in violation of state elections law, and the Texas Secretary of State has asked the office to review an additional 126 addresses.
The secretary of state began investigating after state Sen. Paul Bettencourt, a Houston Republican, filed a complaint earlier this year. His office identified voters whose home addresses were registered at UPS locations on Westheimer Road and Waugh Drive, in violation of legislation he authored.
“No one lives in a P.O. Box, and Texans cannot legally register to vote from one,” Bettencourt said in a Monday statement in response to the investigation’s findings. “It’s the law, and it’s been the law for four years in statute.”
In response to Bettencourt’s November complaint, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson threatened potential state oversight of elections in Harris County, where there were more than 2.6 million registered voters as of November 2024. Texas’ most populous county has become a Democratic stronghold in recent years, and its elections have come under scrutiny by the state’s Republican leaders, who have passed laws regulating how the county runs its elections.
Neither Bettencourt nor Nelson has alleged the voter address issue led to ballots being illegally cast in recent elections or impacted the outcome of any races.
The secretary of state’s office was not immediately available for comment Tuesday afternoon.
On Dec. 23, the office sent a letter to the Harris County Voter Registrar, acknowledging the actions the county took to address the P.O. box registrations. The secretary of state also provided the county with the list of additional addresses associated with commercial post office boxes.
“Our office acknowledges and appreciates your diligent and timely efforts to respond to the items listed in the complaint and to ensure the accuracy of your voter registration records through proper list maintenance activities,” the secretary of state’s office said in the letter to the county.
After Bettencourt’s complaint, the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar’s Office reviewed its voter records. It found that 60 voters were registered at the Waugh Drive UPS facility, though five of the voter registrations were suspended pending additional information. Another 65 voters were registered at the Westheimer address, though 11 were on the suspended list.
The office sent notices to voters registered at these locations seeking updated addresses. Voters who don’t respond will be placed on the suspended list.
While state law generally prohibits the use of a post office box as a voter registration address, there are exceptions for active duty military members and their families as well as college students who live on campus. The law also allows exceptions for some members of the public with safety concerns, such as domestic violence survivors and judges who want to keep their home addresses private.
In a letter to the secretary of state’s office, county elections officials said their office had acted in compliance with the law and took immediate action after they were notified of potential issues with the voter registrations.
Additionally, the voter registrar’s office noted that state law does not require elections officials to “proactively search for commercial post office box addresses and run those addresses against its voter roll.”
In a statement to Houston Public Media, the Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar’s Office said it “is committed to maintaining an accurate voter roll and putting voters first.“
“As made clear by the Secretary of State’s letter on December 23, 2025, the Tax Office took diligent and timely action to address the concerns raised in Senator Bettencourt’s complaint,” the office said. “Once it was brought to our attention, our office followed the process established by the Secretary of State and the Texas Election Code. We will continue to work with the Secretary of State and other stakeholders to ensure our voter rolls are accurate, our statutory duties are met, and that every eligible voter can cast their ballot with confidence. “
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