Texas has established an interstate voter registration crosscheck program with nine states, expanding efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls and ensure secure elections.
Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced the new voter roll data-sharing agreements on Thursday, calling them “a significant step in our ongoing commitment to maintain accurate voter registration lists and upholding the integrity of our elections.”
Nelson said the agreements will strengthen efforts to prevent duplicate registrations, providing “a critical tool to detect and prevent potential voter fraud.”
According to the announcement, the agreements will further enhance election security by allowing states to work together to identify cross-state duplicate registrations and prevent voting in multiple jurisdictions.
The agreements establish a “secure and cooperative process” for comparing states’ voter registration records, outlining how states will securely exchange voter registration data while adhering to strict confidentiality and cybersecurity protocols.
They also ensure that “any instances of duplicate registrations or potential voter fraud identified through this process are shared with appropriate authorities for further investigation.”
Texas signed cross-check agreements with the following nine states:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Ohio
- South Carolina
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Nelson said Texas plans to establish similar agreements with additional states.
Since 2015, Texas election law has required participation in a crosscheck program. But legislation passed in 2023 as Senate Bill 1070 forced the state to withdraw from the only existing program, known as ERIC (Electronic Registration Information Center).
In anticipation of the change, the secretary of state’s office began working to develop an in-house crosscheck program.
Elections Director Christina Adkins, who works under Nelson, told Texas lawmakers in March that her office was obtaining data sets used by ERIC directly from the the states instead of going through a third party and was in the process of finalizing data-sharing agreements.
Texas Scorecard has requested more information from the secretary of state’s office about when and how the program will be implemented.
“Texans expect fair and transparent elections,” concluded Nelson. “These agreements provide an effective framework for safeguarding our voter rolls, and we look forward to expanding this initiative with other states in the near future.”
Texans can find more information about elections and voting at votetexas.gov.
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