Attorney General Ken Paxton is suing the federal government for refusing to provide Texas with information necessary for identifying potential noncitizens on voter rolls.
According to the attorney general, the Biden-Harris administration is required by federal law to assist states in verifying the citizenship status of individuals suspected of being ineligible to vote—and their inaction constitutes a violation of that law.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has refused to comply with federal law, presenting yet another obstacle for Texas to overcome in ensuring free and fair elections in our state,” Paxton said. “The law demands that they provide important information regarding the citizenship of nearly half a million potentially ineligible voters.”
“Since the Biden-Harris Administration has chosen to ignore the law, I will see them in court,” he concluded.
Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson joined Paxton in filing the lawsuit. “The federal government is obligated to provide states with information to maintain voter rolls and prevent non-citizen voting,” she said.
Nelson explained that the state is now taking action to force federal agencies to do their jobs and provide Texas with the repeatedly requested voter data.
In early October, Paxton demanded that the federal government verify the citizenship status of approximately 450,000 voters. These voters reportedly never had their citizenship verified because they registered to vote without either a Texas driver’s license or an ID card.
Now, Paxton has sued U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, its director, Ur M. Jaddou, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and its director, Alejandro Mayorkas, for allegedly flouting its legal responsibility to provide Texas with the data.
Advancing Integrity President Christine Welborn told Texas Scorecard, “If the federal government is going to keep us from verifying citizenship before registration, then they need to participate in helping us verify citizenship after registration.”
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