DALLAS — After a video shared on social media purported to show officials in Dallas County tell election workers to “illegally” use a church address to register unhoused people to vote, the Dallas County Elections Department called the allegations “misinformation.”
The video purported to be recorded in a Dallas County Elections Department training class and shared to X, formerly Twitter, Monday and shared by John Basham, former Reno city council member in Parker County, Texas had about 2.7 million views as of Wednesday afternoon and more than 38,000 reposts.
The post with the video alleged the Dallas County Elections Department was instructing election workers to “illegally lie” on voter registration forms and use a church address when registering people experiencing homelessness to vote.
The Dallas County Elections Department, in a statement in response Monday, said the claims misrepresented the discussion seen in the video.
“These claims falsely imply that legally protected voter registration practices are acts of voter fraud,” the statement from the department read. “State law is very clear: having a home is not a requirement to be eligible to register to vote, and voters can use an address other than their residential address as a mailing address.”
“Dallas County Elections wants to make this very clear: U.S. Citizens eligible to vote under federal and state law will be allowed to register to vote, whether they are unhoused or not,” the statement continued.
The department said in the statement that claims like the ones made by people sharing the video on social media, “creates unnecessary confusion and undermines trust in the electoral system.”
“Voting is a right guaranteed by the U.S. and Texas Constitutions, and eligibility requirements are clearly defined in state law,” said Heider Garcia, Dallas County Elections Administrator. “Our unhoused population in Dallas County, many of whom are veterans, deserve to be treated like every other voter who is allowed to use an alternate mailing address.”
The post shared by Basham alleges the video was recorded Aug. 24 during an election worker training.
“So should we put a church address because that’s where they come?” a person can be heard asking in the 34-second video.
“Where do they lay their head at? Where do they sleep?” another person asked.
“On the street. They sleep right outside the church,” the first person said.
“If they sleep in that area, put a description. That’s the residence address,” a person said. “You have to include a mailing address. If the church has a box … to share with them, a box is fine.”
Basham’s post also has a note on it, which is a feature that allows readers on X to add context, that says that, according to Texas Election Code, applicants without an address are allowed to list a mailing address and concise description of their residence when registering to vote.
Per Texas Election Code, people must include a residence address to register to vote. If the applicant doesn’t have a permanent address, they can list a mailing address or a concise description of the location of their residence to register to vote.
