Texas Watchdog plans to examine polling place books in the elections where dead people's names were used to cast ballots. (See our story here about the more than 6,000 Dallas County voters who may be dead and the dozens who appear to have voted after their deaths.)

The books will hopefully hold clues in the mystery of the dead voters.

Take voter Howard Ingram, of Foley Street, for example. He passed away in September 2006, but voting records indicate he cast a ballot in person during this year's March 4 Democratic primary. The polling books at his precinct, 3345, should show a voter signature by his name and a stamp placed there by poll workers.

(Pictured above: Imani Ingram, 11, holds the flag presented to his family at his father's funeral. Howard Ingram, an Army veteran, passed away in 2006.)

If the book doesn't show a signature and stamp, poll workers may have erred in recording that Ingram voted. But if it does, the mystery remains.

Earlier this week, Texas Watchdog e-mailed a Dallas County elections official the full results of its investigation.

Danny Clayton, supervisor of voter registration, said he wanted to take a look at the results, especially for voters who may have already been flagged by the county's system as having outdated information. The county periodically removes voters who don't respond to requests to update their address information, and many dead voters are removed in this way.

Of the more than 6,000 voters, more than 2,000 had been flagged by the county's system. Those voters were still registered and could participate in elections, but their names will eventually be removed from the rolls if the elections department doesn't hear from them. The other 4,000 voters had not been flagged for future removal.

Clayton seemed keen on getting to the bottom of things.

Once Election Day has passed, Clayton said he would gather the polling place books that correspond with the elections where dead people's names were used to vote. Clayton invited Texas Watchdog to view the books, and we'll let you know what we find.

Unfortunately, the mystery of dead voters participating in older elections may remain unsolved. The county keeps polling place books going back 22 months, and Texas Watchdog's investigation of elections since March 2004 showed questionable activity as early as 2004.