Updated with response from Secretary of State Jane Nelson
With early voting approaching in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton is intensifying his efforts to have the state’s top election official verify the citizenship status of certain registered voters.
Last month, Paxton sent a letter to Secretary of State Jane Nelson, urging her to seek assistance from the federal government. His request stems from concerns about federal restrictions that hinder Texas’ ability to confirm the citizenship status of voter registrants. According to Paxton, these federal laws make it more difficult for the state to ensure that non-citizens are not voting, even though it’s illegal for non-citizens to cast ballots.
Paxton emphasized that the federal government is bound to help states identify non-citizen voters.
On the same day as Paxton’s initial request, Nelson sent a letter to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) Director Ur M. Jaddou. However, Nelson’s letter used a different language, requesting assistance “verifying or ascertaining the citizenship or immigration status of certain individuals on the State of Texas’s voter rolls.”
Paxton’s office criticized Nelson’s approach, stating that her letter “did not provide any information to the federal government about the individuals whose citizenship status needs to be verified, which defeats the purpose of the letter.”
Two weeks later, in another letter to Nelson, Paxton says her office sent the necessary list of potential non-citizen voters to the federal government for verification:
As our offices continue our cooperative efforts on the critical issue of election integrity, my office has identified information maintained by the Secretary of State that will facilitate our efforts to prevent non-U.S. citizens from casting illegal votes in Texas elections and to investigate potential voter fraud. To that end, I formally request that you provide to my office each record in the statewide voter registration database (TEAM) for which the Secretary of State does not have a State of Texas issued driver’s license or identification card number for that individual.
With the November election only a month away, Paxton is stressing the situation is urgent.
“Texans cannot afford to lose another second waiting for their vote and their voice to be protected from illegal ballots,” said Paxton. “Every election official in the state must join me in prioritizing this. Our state and our country are counting on you to expedite transparency and accountability to secure our elections and ensure non-citizens do not illegally vote.”
Several hours later, Nelson responded to Paxton.
“As of this afternoon, my office has not received any reply from the federal government. As such, I am securely transmitting the list of voters you described in your letter so that you may take additional actions as appropriate,” wrote Nelson.
“As you requested, the information being provided to your office consists of all voter records in the statewide voter registration system for which there is no Texas driver license or personal identification card number. The records do not reflect, and are in no way indicative of, a list of potential non-United States citizens on the State’s voter rolls,” she added.
Early voting begins October 21.
