The Texas Secretary of State issued a statement Friday saying that a joint investigation with the Texas Department of Public Safety turned up approximately 95,000 non-citizens registered on Texas voter rolls, adding that an estimated 58,000 of those have already voted in at least one election.
“Every single instance of illegal voting threatens democracy in our state and deprives individual Texans of their voice,” Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said in a press release. “We’re honored to have partnered with the Texas Secretary of State’s office in the past on voter initiatives and we will spare no effort in assisting with these troubling cases. My Election Fraud Unit stands ready to investigate and prosecute crimes against the democratic process when needed.”
KTRE, who reviewed the secretary of state’s press release, added:
The press release from the Texas secretary of state’s office stated that voting in an election that a person knows he or she is not eligible to vote in is a second-degree felony.
The Texas secretary of state’s office passed the information on to the Texas Attorney General’s Office because the agency has no statutory enforcement authority to investigate or prosecute alleged illegal activity in connection with an election.
According to the AG, only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in Texas elections; however, Texas law currently doesn’t validate voters’ claims that they are, in fact, actually citizens.