As November Election Approaches, Texas Issues Warning About Noncitizen Voting

(The Center Square) – Since the primary runoff in late May and leading up to the November election, the Texas Secretary of State’s office has prioritized cleaning up voter rolls and issuing guidance to local jurisdictions on election law.

On Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced the results of a statewide sweep that has removed more than 1.1 million people from Texas voter rolls, including 6,500 noncitizens who registered to vote illegally. Of those, records for 1,930 people with voting records have been turned over to the attorney general’s office for possible criminal investigation.

The announcement comes after Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson issued warnings and guidance to local officials about complying with state and federal election laws.

A directive directing election officials to implement measures to ensure the privacy of registered voters was issued after complaints about ballot information being released for apparent political purposes.

It orders counties to remove any information that could link a voter’s personal information to their voting choices. It also warned that anyone “who chooses to publish voting information could be subject to prosecution under federal and state laws if the disclosure of information is linked to voter intimidation, bribery or coercion.”

Another reminder sent to county clerks asks them to maintain accurate voter rolls and remove ineligible voters, including non-citizens, felons and the deceased.

“Voting is a sacred right that must be preserved for citizens who meet the requirements of our election laws,” Nelson said. “My responsibility is to ensure that elections are free and fair and that only qualified voters participate.”

His office updates the statewide voter registration database daily, but federal law prohibits large-scale updates 90 days before a federal election.

After the May 28 primary runoff, Texas had until Aug. 7 to conduct a full voter roll update. Over the summer, aggressive steps were taken to ensure only eligible voters were on the rolls, his office said, adding that it “continues to provide a multitude of data sets to counties to ensure voter roll accuracy.”

As part of SOS’s voter roll monitoring process, records of potential noncitizens are sent to counties, and voter registrars are required by law to investigate and remove any ineligible voters. SOS is also required by law to “withhold election funds from a county voter registrar for failure to timely approve, amend, or cancel a voter’s registration,” according to a new law that went into effect in 2021.

His office “continuously monitors each registrar’s voter registration maintenance activity to ensure compliance with their voter deregistration obligations,” Nelson said.

Nelson also reminded registrars that they have the right to open their own investigations, just like Texas voters.

All registered voters in Texas “have the right to challenge the eligibility of any voter registered in their county,” his office says. Any Texan can challenge the registration of a voter they believe is not a U.S. citizen by filing a sworn statement with the county clerk. This results in a hearing and possible cancellation of the voter’s registration if proof of citizenship cannot be produced. Noncitizens identified as registered to vote must be reported to the attorney general’s and secretary of state’s offices within 72 hours.

Nelson again reminded all election officials that federal and state law prohibits noncitizens from registering and voting in Texas elections. When registering to vote, Texans must attest that they are U.S. citizens. Providing false information on a voter registration form exposes applicants to criminal penalties.

The voter roll cleanup stems from several bills signed by Abbott. In 2023, he signed HB 1243, which increased the penalty for illegal voting, including voting by noncitizens, to a second-degree felony.

In 2021, Abbott signed bills SB 1, SB 1113, and HB 574 into law. SB 1 implemented several changes, including increasing the penalty for lying on a voter registration form to a felony punishable by state prison, criminalizing ballot harvesting, and prohibiting local jurisdictions from distributing absentee ballot applications and unsolicited ballots as Harris County attempted to do. The law also requires the use and matching of identification for absentee ballots. It also requires the Secretary of State to conduct random audits of elections every two years and ongoing citizenship checks of Texas voter rolls.

Senate Bill 1113 directed the Secretary of State to withhold funds from counties whose trustees fail to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls. House Bill 574 increased the penalty for knowingly counting invalid votes or refusing to count valid votes, making it a second-degree felony. In 2017, Abbott signed SB 5 into law to increase the penalty for poll workers who knowingly allow noncitizens and other ineligible people to vote.

Nelson’s office also regularly obtains data on noncitizens from the Department of Public Safety and receives information from Texas courts about noncitizens who are exempt or disqualified from jury service and compares that information to the voter registration database. The records are also sent to county voter registrars to investigate voter eligibility.

“Those who are deemed ineligible or who do not respond within the allotted time are removed from the electoral roll,” his office said.