A Texas newspaper accused Governor Greg Abbott and other Republican officials in the state of “hurting our democracy” by claiming that there is widespread election fraud among noncitizen voters.
Noncitizen voting fraud has become a national topic among Republicans, who claim, without sufficient evidence, that illegal immigrants are registering to vote in this year’s election. The Republican-led House passed a bill, the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, in July, which would require those registering to vote to provide documentary proof of United States citizenship.
On Monday, Abbott announced that Texas has removed over 1 million people from the state’s voter rolls since September 2021. A majority of those removed were people who had died (over 457,000) and voters who had been placed on the suspense list (over 463,000), which is a compilation of voters who may have moved since they registered to vote.
Over 6,500 people removed from voter rolls were noncitizens and, according to an op-ed published by The Dallas Morning News on Friday, roughly 1,300 of these noncitizens voted. While the number should be at zero, given that it is illegal for noncitizens to register to vote or to vote in elections, the number given is 0.1 percent of ineligible voters, which is statistically insignificant.
“Yes, voter rolls need to be checked and cleared regularly. But there is an inevitable lag that happens in the process,” The Dallas Morning News‘ editorial board wrote. “Creating alarm over the integrity of our electoral process is what is actually hurting our democracy.”
Newsweek has reached out to Abbott’s office via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.
Earlier on in the op-ed, The Dallas Morning News called out Abbott as well as Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, both Republicans, for “feeding the confirmation bias of a voter base that now believes American elections are stolen when their side loses,” an apparent reference to claims made by members of the GOP, without any concrete evidence, that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against then-President Donald Trump.
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Paxton, meanwhile, launched an investigation last week into reports of possible illegal voter registration by noncitizens.
Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit has confirmed that nonprofits have been offering to help people register to vote outside Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License offices.
The attorney general’s office felt an inquiry was needed, given that all citizens are already given the opportunity to register to vote when renewing or being issued an identification card or driver’s license.
“Texans are deeply troubled by the possibility that organizations purporting to assist with voter registration are illegally registering noncitizens to vote in our elections,” Paxton said in an August 21 press release. “If eligible citizens can legally register to vote when conducting their business at a DPS office, why would they need a second opportunity to register with a booth outside?”
Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit also conducted multiple searches in Frio, Atascosa and Bexar Counties as part of an ongoing investigation into allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting during the 2022 midterm elections, his office announced last week.
Newsweek has reached out to Paxton’s office via email for comment on Saturday afternoon.
Texas is the fifth most difficult state to vote in, according to the Election Law Journal. Senate Bill 1, which Abbott signed into law in 2021, made lying while registering to vote a state felony and required random audits of elections every two years, among other provisions.