Mary Howard-Elley fervently believes that illegal immigration in the United States is a critical problem that only former President Donald Trump can solve. He says maintaining the border wall and promising mass deportations will make the country safer.

He agrees with Trump’s false claims that Democrats opened the borders to allow non-citizens to vote, and fears that could ultimately cost him the election.

Howard-Elley took little notice that Texas Gov. Greg Abbott fueled that narrative by announcing that the state had removed thousands of alleged non-citizens from the rolls, claiming some had a voting history.

He later learned that he, a US citizen, was among them.

The elections office in Montgomery County, just north of Houston, sent a letter to Howard-Elley in late January saying she was flagged after stating she was not a U.S. citizen in response to a grand jury summons. According to the letter, he had 30 days to submit proof of citizenship to the county or he would be removed from the voter rolls.

The retired Transportation Security Administration agent was confused as to how the county could reach that conclusion. And he bristled at the idea that anyone could question the citizenship of a former federal employee with “the whitest name you could ever have.”

“Who allows people to do this to US citizens? “I understand we have a problem with immigration, but come on,” Howard-Elley said in an interview.

The 52-year-old woman disputes the state’s claim that she responded to a summons for jury duty by saying she was not a citizen. Howard-Elley said she called instead and asked to be excused from jury duty due to guardianship of her three grandchildren.

The Montgomery County county clerk’s office, which regulates jury duty, did not respond to repeated questions and denied a public records request regarding Howard-Elley’s response to the jury summons, arguing it was exempt from disclosure.

Howard-Elley wanted to make sure she could vote, no matter how she was marked as a non-citizen. He ordered several copies of his certified Louisiana birth certificate and confirmed its receipt with an election office employee. He thought the problem was solved.

But Howard-Elley’s registration was not reinstated, making her the 10th U.S. citizen to be delisted as a potential noncitizen by ProPublica, The Texas Tribune and Votebeat. News organizations followed them part of an investigation The report found that Abbott’s claims that the state had removed more than 6,500 noncitizens were likely exaggerated and, in some cases, false.

The 10 U.S. citizens removed from the lists represented a variety of racial and political backgrounds, and most were removed as a result of human error.

Abbott’s press release warned Republicans that noncitizens could vote in large numbers and influence the election, but experts say such events are extremely rare.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed a lawsuit against the federal government last weekIt alleges that the Department of Homeland Security has refused to assist the state in checking the citizenship status of some registered voters. The federal agency offers states access to a database that can be used to verify immigration status, but Paxton argued that is inadequate and requires fees for each verification. Ten other states use the database for voting-related purposes.

Neither Abbott nor Paxton responded to questions for this story. DHS has not responded to the attorney general’s lawsuit in federal court.

Howard-Elley’s case shows how eligible voters can be removed from the rolls and how difficult it can be to get back in.

He didn’t realize his registration had been canceled until reporters called him this month. Darla Brooks, director of voter registration for Montgomery County, told both Howard-Elley and news organizations that she was not reinstated in March because her birth certificate came after a 30-day deadline for her to prove her citizenship.

On Oct. 14, Brooks said Howard-Elley also missed the registration deadline for this year’s election and was unable to vote.

The election official was wrong.

Multiple voting rights advocates stated: State Law It says counties must immediately reinstate voter registrations that were mistakenly canceled. Brooks initially told reporters that the law did not apply to Howard-Elley because the county followed proper procedures in removing him.

But when news organizations brought the same question to the secretary of state’s office, which provides guidance to counties on enforcing election laws, the answer was different.

2021 agency recommendation Instructs counties to promptly reinstate voters expelled for failure to respond to a notice as soon as they present proof of citizenship. They can even be reinstated at the polling place on Election Day.

Less than two hours after news organizations sent the secretary of state’s recommendation to Montgomery County, Howard-Elley was put back on the list.

“I regret that Montgomery County had to be shown to comply with the law,” Howard-Elley said. He added that this election was the first time in more than 30 years that he was unable to vote for president. “I hope they never do this to anyone again because it’s not fair.”

Suzie Harvey, Montgomery County’s elections administrator, said her office has never had to deal with a situation like Howard-Elley’s and forgot about the specific guidance, though she likely saw it when the advisory was issued. He said his office worked quickly to reinstate Howard-Elley when news organizations flagged the advisory and that he was satisfied Howard-Elley would be able to vote.

“That would be extremely tragic,” Harvey said.

Not every voter has Howard-Elley’s determination, or news organizations ask persistent questions about how their cases are being handled.

“Voting shouldn’t be so difficult that you have to be a lawyer or have lawyer skills to vote,” said Nina Perales, vice president of litigation at the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund.

Perales said it would take a “heroic effort” from the average voter to research election laws and advocate for reopening registration.

Even then, the decision will depend on how election officials in their districts interpret the laws and guidelines.

Three county election officials gave different answers to the question of whether they would reinstate a voter in Howard-Elley’s situation, but all emphasized they would do their best to comply with the law.

One said the voter should be reinstated. The other two said they would likely reinstate the voter after the registration deadline only if the county had made a mistake somehow.

Those disparities “give voters in some counties less rights than voters in other counties,” said Emily Eby French, policy director for Common Cause Texas, a nonprofit that advocates for voting access.

Howard-Elley said she was disturbed that she came so close to losing her ability to vote. Howard-Elley said she might have been turned away at the polls if reporters hadn’t called her.

He said he was concerned about whether other eligible voters were among those labeled as non-citizens and that Abbott should see if there were more U.S. citizens among them. The lifelong Republican said state and county officials should be held accountable to ensure more U.S. citizens are not mistakenly removed.

“The system is deeply flawed,” Howard-Elley said. “I’m really sorry that we are in such a situation. You would think that we would not have such problems in 2024.”

He plans to vote for Trump.