Dallas activist mistakenly declared dead, voter registration canceled

DALLAS - A well-known Texas Democrat claims he was removed from the voter rolls in Dallas County after being mistakenly declared dead.

Former LULAC President Domingo Garcia has voted in every election for decades and voted just last month in the March Primary. 

He believes the issue is bigger than just a clerical error.

What we know:

Garcia shared the letter dated April 14 that was sent to him. It says his voter registration in Dallas County was canceled on April 10.

What they're saying:

Democrats are concerned that people are being improperly removed ahead of the November midterm election, citing record voter turnout in the March 3, 2026 primary election.

Garcia said that while he’s very knowledgeable about the election process, he fears others won’t know what to do if they are in the same situation he is in.

"I know from what I investigated in the law that they were supposed to get a what's called a certified death certificate before they cancel my voter registration. I doubt that they got that because I'm still here. Now it's possible they have another Domingo Garcia out there, but my name has a middle name in there that would have stood out, and the fact that I just voted would have told them no, I'm not dead," he said.

The other side:

The Dallas County Elections Office released this statement to FOX 4 on the matter:

Dallas County Elections was made aware of this situation late last week and promptly reviewed the records. We confirmed the error stemmed from data received through the Texas Secretary of State’s voter database.

We have been in communication with the Texas Secretary of State to resolve the issue, and they are working with their voter database vendor to investigate. We are currently reviewing additional records that were included in the same file sent from their office. At this time, it appears at least one other voter may have been incorrectly marked as deceased.

Mr. Garcia’s voter registration has been reactivated in our system. 

Big picture view:

Southern Methodist University political scientist Matthew Wilson said there has been a greater focus on voter roll purging as a directive from the Texas Legislature.

Wilson said Garcia’s name is common enough that it could have just been a mistake, but he recognizes the concern.

"I think the worry of some voting rights activists is that not everybody will take that step. Not everybody will avail themselves of those appeal procedures and get this straightened out, and so they worry that some of these cases of mistaken identity will result in people being disenfranchised who actually do have a legitimate right to vote at the address where they are registered," Wilson said.

What you can do:

Now is a good time to check your voter registration status by going to your county elections office website and searching to make sure you are still registered.

Early voting starts on Monday for the May 2 municipal elections. 

Voting for the primary runoff is next month.