Texas finds 2,700 illegal immigrants on voter rolls in state review

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson said Monday that a Texas election review identified thousands of illegal immigrants on the state’s voter rolls.

Nelson said a cross-check of state voter registration records found more than 2,700 potential illegal immigrants registered in voter rolls, prompting eligibility reviews in 254 counties.

The data came from a full comparison of Texas’ 18 million registered voters with federal citizenship records in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE database, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

“Only eligible U.S. citizens can participate in our elections,” Nelson said. “The Trump Administration’s decision to give states free and direct access to this dataset for the first time was a game changer, and we appreciate our partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter lists and keep voter lists accurate.”

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The investigation showed that after running the SAVE cross-check, state officials were able to identify 2,724 potential noncitizens whose voter files were sent to local counties for further investigation.

This process falls under Section 16 of the Texas Election Code, which requires counties to verify each voter’s eligibility and remove confirmed non-citizens from voter rolls.

Nelson said the review is part of an effort to maintain an accurate voter roll and protect election integrity ahead of the 2026 election cycle.

“Everyone’s right to vote is sacred and must be protected,” Nelson said. “We encourage counties to conduct rigorous research to determine whether any voter is eligible, just as they do with other data sets we present.”

Each flagged voter will receive a notice from their county recorder giving them 30 days to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. If a voter does not respond, their registration will be canceled but can be immediately reinstated when proof of citizenship is presented.

Nelson’s statement stated that certified non-citizens who voted in previous Texas elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and potential investigation.

The announcement comes amid national scrutiny of voter rolls, with many states including Georgia, Arizona and Florida conducting similar audits of voter eligibility.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said Texas has removed more than a million ineligible or outdated records from the state’s voter rolls since Senate Bill 1 became law and efforts are needed to protect Texans’ right to vote.

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Texas has confirmed that noncitizens who voted in previous elections will be referred to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and possible investigation. (Getty Images)

“These reforms have led to the removal of more than a million voters from our rolls over the past three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state,” Abbott said. he said. “The Secretary of State and county voter registrars have an ongoing legal obligation to review voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer potential illegal voting to the Attorney General and local officials for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting will never be tolerated in Texas. While we aggressively protect our elections against illegal voting, Texans have a sacred right to vote.” “We will continue to actively protect your rights.”

Abbott called the initiative proof that Texas “leads the nation in election integrity.”

A breakdown of the information was released by the Secretary of State’s office and showed Harris County had the highest number of potential noncitizens, with 362, followed by Dallas County (277), Bexar County (201) and El Paso County (165).
Smaller counties such as Andrews, Llano and Cooke reported fewer than ten flagged registrations.

In total, all 254 Texas counties were included in the SAVE database review. Districts began sending verification notices this week as part of a 30-day review process.

In June, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced that she had appealed to the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the names of 33 potential non-citizens who voted in the November 2024 General Election.

The guidance came just weeks after Texas gained access to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ SAVE Database, Nelson said in a statement.

“Gaining access to this database was a game changer. Not only were we able to identify people who should not have voted in the last election, but we were also able to confirm that dozens more people had been naturalized,” said Minister Nelson.

The cross-checking became possible after the Trump Administration gave states direct and free access to the federal SAVE database for the first time.

The tool allows election officials to confirm voter citizenship based on immigration and naturalization records.

The statement also noted that Texas was among the first states to participate in the pilot program with DHS, USCIS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to improve the functionality of the database.

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“We are in the early stages of this pilot program, but we are already seeing promising results. This may be the most up-to-date and accurate data set available when it comes to citizenship verification,” said Minister Nelson.

County recorders are expected to complete their investigation in early December, followed by formal dismissals and potential referrals.

The State Department office said the review will continue with periodic checks of federal databases to ensure accuracy.

“The SAVE database has proven to be a critically important data set and is one of many we will continue to use in Texas to ensure that only qualified voters vote in our elections,” Nelson said.