in Houston, Texas

The names of dead voters may have been used to cast unlawful ballots in two recent elections, a Texas Watchdog investigation has found.

The votes found by Texas Watchdog -- two discovered so far by digging through reams of paper and electronic records -- appear to be isolated events that don't point to a pattern or trend of fraudulent activity.

But our reporting, which followed the trail from the polling place all the way to the Harris County district attorney's office in charge of public integrity, shows how easy it would be to commit voter fraud - and how tough it can be to prosecute people who commit the crime.

"You basically need a confession in order to prosecute someone," said Julian Ramirez, Harris County assistant district attorney.

The district attorney's office receives about 2,000 election-related referrals per year from the public or other government officials wondering whether a crime has been committed, assistant district attorney Donna Goode said. These range from alleged campaign violations to suspected voter fraud.

But because of insufficient evidence, and because the staff's mission is not to investigate but to prosecute once someone else brings them the goods, less than 5 percent of the 2,000 referrals actually go before a grand jury or result in someone being charged with a crime.

The findings come as lawmakers in Austin prepare to debate whether voters should present photo identification at the polls.

The discussion promises to be heated. Some groups say photo ID is needed to protect the integrity of the election process while others say the plan amounts to voter suppression and would harm the very poor, the very old and people with disabilities.

Currently, Texas requires ID, but many documents meet the requirement, including a water bill, which could be forged easily using a basic computer and printer.

An argument against photo ID:

"It just seems so unnecessary for the Senate to take a full day of precious time, considering a bill that is trying to correct a nonexistent problem."
-- Barbara Weinstein, of Dallas, a vice president with the League of Women Voters of Texas.

An argument in favor:

"You have to have an ID of some kind to do anything in this country today. You cannot walk through and do anything without proving who you are, so why shouldn't you have to prove who you are for the greatest right and privilege in this country, to vote on who is going to make the laws and govern?"
--Judy Coble, a GOP activist from Pampa.

Learn more about the photo ID debate:

Follow the debate in the state Senate, and read what Democrats and the GOP have to say on the issue.

Major opinion-makers around the state have opined against photo ID at the polls. Here's a sampling, from the editorial boards of the Austin American-Statesman and the Houston Chronicle (link to editorial no longer live, but here's a companion public discussion), and click here to read Chronicle columnist and political watcher Rick Casey's take on why the photo ID measure will fail. We couldn't turn up a Texas newspaper editorial in favor of photo ID at the polls, so if you know of one, please post the link in the comments below.

And read more reporting by Texas Watchdog:

~ Read about the two cases of potentially unlawful ballots cast by people impersonating deceased voters at the polls.

~ What do officials say? Interviews with officials who work for the Harris County district attorney, the Harris County voter registrar, the Harris County clerk, and the Secretary of State.

~ What do you say? Comment on the story.

~ Related: Our earlier investigation in Houston, which found more than 4,000 people who may be deceased and listed on the voter rolls.

~ Related: In Dallas County, Texas Watchdog found dozens of clerical errors in Dallas County election records. The records pointed to the names of dead people being used to cast ballots.

Photo of a polling place sign by flickr user Tom Prete, used via a Creative Commons license.