Texas lawmakers are considering a new law that would require proof of citizenship to register to vote, although evidence of noncitizen voting remains rare.
In a Senate State Affairs committee hearing, officials discussed a proposal similar to Arizona's, which mandates proof of citizenship for voter registration, per Texas Tribune's coverage of the event.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick prompted the hearing following Gov. Greg Abbott's claim of removing over 6,500 potential noncitizens from voter rolls—a number that investigative reporting done by the Texas Tribune, ProPublica, and Votebeat later suggested was "likely inflated."
According to a report given to Abbott by the Secretary of State, which was uncovered by the news organizations, 581 individuals were confirmed as noncitizens between September 2021 and August 2024.
The Texas Tribune revealed the governor's inflated number combined the individuals confirmed as noncitizens with a separate number of U.S. citizens who were removed from the rolls after failing to respond to letters questioning their citizenship.
In addition, the news organization's investigation found at least 10 U.S. citizens who were removed from the rolls after incorrectly being labeled as non-citizens.
Several lawmakers, including Republican Sen. Bryan Hughes, supported stricter registration requirements, citing a need for integrity in the voting system despite the infrequent occurrence of noncitizen voting.
Sen. Judith Zaffirini, the only Democrat who attended the hearing, voiced concerns about possible "voter intimidation" effects, even if such was unintended.
The testimony highlighted concerns about federal databases' reliability for verifying citizenship, while experts like Ken Cuccinelli, Chairman of the Conservative Election Transparency Initiative, advocated using a database system similar to Arizona's bifurcated model, which requires proof of citizenship for state elections. In 2014, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Arizona must allow residents who do not provide proof to vote in federal elections.
"There are bad actors. They're the minority, but you can zero in on them a whole lot easier if they're only on your smaller list," Cuccinelli was quoted saying.
Similar legislation was proposed last year, but it did not make it to the Governor's desk. Multiple committee members assured they would file it again in the upcoming legislative session.
However, implementing this change could come with glitches, such as the ones Arizona authorities reported last summer. According to the Texas Tribune, the state had erroneously been labeling thousands of voters as having provided U.S. citizenship proof for decades.
Committee members also proposed to collaborate with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in order to obtain information about noncitizens. Cuccinelli, who was a former acting deputy secretary of DHS, warned it would be costly and unreliable due to USCIS's database design. Per Cuccinelli, USCIS's database is the only database of noncitizens present in the United States.
It is unlikely voter citizenship-proof legislation will affect the upcoming elections, which are less than a month away. Republicans nationwide have cast doubt on the integrity of the election process since Biden's 2020 victory. Attorney General Ken Paxton has also led multiple voting fraud investigations, which have mostly failed to produce significant evidence.
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