A Texas state review found 2,700 illegal immigrants on voter rolls
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The Texas Election Review has identified thousands Illegal immigrants on the state’s voter rolls, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said Monday.
Nelson said A crosscheck of state voter records found that more than 2,700 potential illegal immigrants were registered on the voter rolls, prompting an eligibility review in 254 counties.
The data comes from a thorough comparison of Texas’ 18 million registered voters against federal citizenship records in the US Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, the Secretary of State’s office said.
“Only eligible citizens of the United States can participate in our elections,” Nelson said. “of the Trump administration The decision to give states free and direct access to this data set for the first time is a game changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of people on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter rolls.”
Trump administration blocks citizenship to illegal immigrant voters
A voter wearing a protective mask and gloves signs a document at a drive-thru mail ballot hand delivery center in Austin, Texas. (Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
After conducting a SAVE crosscheck, the investigation revealed, state officials could identify 2,724 potential non-citizens whose voter files were forwarded to local counties for further investigation.
This process falls under Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code, which requires counties to verify the eligibility of each voter and remove confirmed noncitizens from the rolls.
Nelson said the review is part of an effort to maintain accurate voter rolls and protect election integrity ahead of the 2026 election.
“Everyone’s right to vote is sacred and should be protected,” Nelson said. “We encourage counties to conduct rigorous checks to determine whether any voter is ineligible — just as they do with other data sets we provide.”
Each flagged voter will receive a 30-day notice from their county registrar to provide proof of US citizenship. If the voter does not respond, their registration will be cancelled, but can be reinstated immediately after providing proof of citizenship.
Nelson’s statement said confirmed noncitizens who voted in previous Texas elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and possible prosecution.
The announcement comes amid growing national scrutiny of voter rolls, as several states — including Georgia, Arizona and Florida — have conducted similar audits of voter eligibility.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said that since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law, Texas has removed more than a million ineligible or expired registrations from the state’s voter rolls, calling the effort necessary to protect Texans’ right to vote.
Texas has confirmed that non-citizens who voted in previous elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and possible prosecution. (Getty Images)
“These reforms have removed more than a million ineligible people from our voter rolls over the past three years, including non-citizens, deceased voters and people who have moved to another state,” Abbott said. “Secretaries of State and county voter registrars have an ongoing legal requirement to review voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal voting to the Attorney General’s Office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated. We will continue to actively defend the sacred right of Texans to vote.” Our elections from illegal voting.”
Abbott called the initiative proof that Texas “leads the nation in election integrity.”
The State of the State’s office released a breakdown of the information showing that Harris County has the highest number of potential noncitizens at 362, followed by Dallas County (277), Bexar County (201) and El Paso County (165).
Smaller counties, including Andrews, Llano and Cook, reported fewer than ten flagged registrations.
In total, all 254 Texas counties were included in the SAVE database review. The county began sending verification notices this week as part of a 30-day review process.
In June, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced that she had referred the names of 33 potential noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 general election to the Attorney General’s Office for investigation.
A statement released by Nelson said the referrals came within weeks of Texas gaining access to the US Citizenship and Immigration Service’s SAVE database.
“Having access to this database has been a game changer. Not only have we been able to identify individuals who may not have voted in the last election, we have also been able to confirm the naturalization of dozens more,” said Secretary Nelson.
The crosscheck was made possible after the Trump administration granted states direct and free access to the federal SAVE database for the first time.
This tool allows election officials to verify voter citizenship against immigration and naturalization records.
The statement also said that Texas was the first state to join a pilot program with DHS, USCIS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to improve the database’s functionality.
“We are in the early stages of this pilot program, but we are already seeing promising results. This may be the most current and accurate data set available for citizenship verification,” said Secretary Nelson.
County registrars are expected to complete their investigation in early December, officially dismissing and sending possible citations.
The Secretary of State’s office said the review will continue with periodic checks against federal databases to ensure accuracy.
“The SAVE database has proven to be a critically important data set and one we will continue to use in Texas to ensure that only eligible voters cast ballots in our elections,” Nelson said.
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