- The Texas Secretary of State’s office has identified 2,724 possible noncitizens who are currently registered to vote in Texas
- Earlier this year, the Texas Secretary of State referred 33 possible noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 general election to the Texas Attorney General’s office for investigation
- Proposition 16 would enshrine an American citizenship requirement to vote in the Texas Constitution
The Texas Secretary of State’s office has identified 2,724 potential noncitizens who are currently registered to vote in Texas, the office announced in a statement Monday. The potential noncitizens were identified after the Secretary of State’s office ran the Texas voter registration list through the SAVE database maintained by U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.
According to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the SAVE database “is an online service for registered federal, state, territorial, tribal, and local government agencies to verify immigration status and U.S. citizenship of applicants seeking benefits or licenses.”
“Only eligible United States citizens may participate in our elections. The Trump Administration’s decision to give states free and direct access to this data set for the first time has been a game changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter lists,” said Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson.
“Everyone’s right to vote is sacred and must be protected. We encourage counties to conduct rigorous investigations to determine if any voter is ineligible — just as they do with any other data set we provide. The SAVE database has proven to be a critically important data set and one of many that we will continue to use in Texas to ensure that only qualified voters cast a ballot in our elections.”
While the Secretary of State’s office identified the possible noncitizens who are registered to vote, it is up to each county to investigate whether these individuals are ineligible.
Harris County has the most potential noncitizens on its voter roll with 362. Other counties with over 100 possible noncitizens currently registered to vote are Dallas County (277), Bexar County (201), El Paso County (165), Tarrant County (145), Hidalgo County (149), and Collin County (109).
In June, the Texas Secretary of State’s office identified 33 potential noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 General Election. Those voters were referred to the Texas Attorney General’s office for investigation.
While the Texas Election Code already requires that voters be American citizens, Texas voters will soon consider whether to enshrine this requirement into the Texas Constitution.
Proposition 16 on the November State Constitutional Amendment ballot reads, “The constitutional amendment clarifying that a voter must be a United States citizen.” If passed, the Texas Constitution would be amended to add “persons who are not citizens of the United States” to the classes of persons prohibited from voting in Texas elections under the Texas Constitution.
