Texas Scorecard By Erin Anderson October 17, 2024
Election integrity advocates told legislators that noncitizen voting is a “huge concern.” Stopping noncitizen voting dominated discussions during a legislative committee hearing on election-related issues held just days before Texans will begin going to the polls.
Members of the Texas Senate’s State Affairs Committee heard testimony Wednesday from elections experts and election integrity advocates on ways to prevent non-U.S. citizens from registering or voting and how to identify any noncitizens on the voter rolls.
It’s a violation of both state and federal law for noncitizens to vote or register to vote.
Serious Concerns About Noncitizens Voting
“There is currently a serious concern that noncitizens will be allowed to vote in this election,” said Fran Rhodes, president of the conservative grassroots group True Texas Project. “This is a huge concern for the people. We ask that you do whatever it takes to fix it.”
While lawmakers have been discussing the problem for years, the flood of illegal aliens into the country under the Biden-Harris administration increased worries that these noncitizens would be able to obtain state-issued IDs and get registered to vote.
Recent seemingly contradictory election advisories from the Texas Secretary of State’s office added to Texans’ concern.
The advisories addressed questions from poll workers preparing for the November election about whether licenses marked “Temporary” or “Limited-Term”—which are only issued to noncitizens—should be accepted as valid voter ID.
On October 8, SOS Elections Director Christina Adkins issued an advisory stating that licenses issued to noncitizens “should not be used” but also instructing election workers to offer a “regular ballot” to registered voters who show only a noncitizen ID and still want to vote after the law is explained to them.
Three days later, Secretary of State Jane Nelson issued an amended advisory “supplementing” the previous advice. Nelson’s updated guidance directed election workers to require registered voters presenting these noncitizen IDs to show a naturalization certificate in order to receive a regular ballot.
Questions still remain about how election workers should process voters presenting noncitizen IDs and how noncitizens are able to get on the voter rolls in the first place.
The Senate committee hearing was intended to focus on future legislative solutions, but testimony illuminated some current concerns about the upcoming general election.
More More More:
https://texasscorecard.com/state/texas-senators-seek-solutions-to-stop-noncitizen-voting/
