AUSTIN – Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton urged Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson to request citizenship 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 letter to the Texas Secretary of State reads: “Although it is a crime for a non-citizen to register to vote, federal law restricts states from requiring proof of citizenship, and state agencies like those we lead have limited means to verify voter citizenship in many cases. But those same laws place obligations on the federal government to help us identify potential non-citizen voters. And the Office of the Secretary of State possesses the legal authority to demand the federal government do its job in helping states maintain the integrity of their voter rolls. I have attached a letter for your consideration that would demand the federal government’s assistance in verifying the citizenship of a relatively small percentage of currently registered voters that registered to vote through means by which citizenship cannot be confirmed.”
To read the letter to Secretary of State Nelson, click here.
To read the proposed request to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, click here.
