Attorney General Ken Paxton Requests Voter Registration Data from Secretary of State
Paxton is Prepared to Force Federal Government to Verify if Noncitizens Are Illegally Registered
October 3, 2024 – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sent a letter to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson formally requesting the records of every registered voter without a State of Texas-issued driver’s license or identification card number in order to facilitate efforts to stop noncitizen voting and investigate potential voter fraud.
On September 18, Attorney General Paxton urged Secretary Nelson to request data from the federal government that would enable Texas to determine the citizenship status of certain registered voters for whom the state cannot verify eligibility to vote. The Secretary of State’s Office ultimately sent a request to the federal government that allows for excessive delays, potentially preventing Texas from receiving this critical information before the election. Crucially, the request sent by SOS 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.
Now, two weeks later and just one month from the election, the Texas Secretary of State still has not sent the list of Texas’s potential noncitizen voters to the federal government for verification. Today, Attorney General Paxton has requested the Secretary of State voluntarily share the list of potential noncitizen voters with the OAG through intergovernmental information sharing and has made a Public Information Act request to the Secretary of State’s office for the registration data to alternatively send it himself.
The letter to the Secretary of State reads: “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.”
“There is no time for delay. Texans cannot afford to lose another second waiting for their vote and their voice to be protected from illegal ballots,” said Attorney General Paxton. “Every election official in the State must join me in prioritizing this. Our State and our Country are counting on you to do everything possible to expedite transparency and accountability to secure our elections and make sure noncitizens do not illegally vote.”
