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Texas election review finds thousands illegal immigrants The state's voter rolls were announced Monday by Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson.
Nelson said A cross-check of state voter records found that there were more than 2,700 possible illegal immigrants on the voter rolls, leading to eligibility checks in 254 counties.
According to the Secretary of State's Office, the data was derived from a comprehensive comparison of 18 million registered Texas voters with federal citizenship records in the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services SAVE database.
“Only eligible U.S. citizens can participate in our elections,” Nelson said. “Trump administration The decision to provide states with free and direct access to this data set for the first time is a game-changer, and we appreciate the partnership with the federal government to verify the citizenship of those on our voter rolls and maintain accurate voter rolls.”
TRUMP ADMIN BLOCKS CITIZENSHIP FOR ILLEGAL MIGRANTS VOTERS
A voter wearing a face mask and gloves signs a document at a mail-in ballot drop-off site in Austin, Texas. (Sergio Flores/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The investigation found that after cross-checking SAVE, state officials were able to identify 2,724 potential noncitizens whose voter files were sent to local counties for further investigation.
The process falls under Chapter 16 of the Texas Election Code, which requires counties to verify each voter's eligibility and remove verified noncitizens from the rolls.
Nelson said the audit is part of efforts to maintain an accurate voter roll and ensure 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 a thorough investigation to determine whether any voter is ineligible—just as they do with any other data set we provide.”
Each flagged voter will receive a notice from their county registrar giving them 30 days to provide proof of U.S. citizenship. If a voter does not respond, their registration will be canceled, although it can be reinstated immediately upon providing proof of citizenship.
Nelson said in a statement that verified noncitizen voters who voted in previous Texas elections will be referred to the Attorney General's Office for further review and possible prosecution.
The announcement comes amid growing national scrutiny of voter rolls as several states, including Georgia, Arizona and Florida, have conducted similar voter eligibility audits.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott said that since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law, Texas has removed more than one million ineligible or outdated registrations from the state's voter rolls, calling the effort necessary to protect Texans' right to vote.
Texas has confirmed that non-citizen voters in previous elections will be referred to the Attorney General's Office for further review and possible prosecution. (Getty Images)
“These reforms have resulted in more than a million ineligible people being removed from our voter rolls over the past three years, including non-citizens, deceased voters and people who have moved to another state,” Abbott said. “The Secretary of State and county registrars of voters have an ongoing legal requirement to review voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal vote to the Attorney General's Office and local governments for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting will never be tolerated in Texas. We will continue to vigorously defend Texans' sacred right to vote while aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting.”
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 shows that Harris County has the largest number of potential noncitizens at 362, followed by Dallas County (277), Bexar County (201) and El Paso County (165).
Smaller counties, including Andrews, Llano and Cook, reported fewer than ten flagged registrations.
In total, all 254 Texas counties were included in the SAVE database review. Counties began sending out inspection notices this week as part of a 30-day review process.
In June, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson announced that she had asked the Attorney General's Office to investigate the names of 33 potential noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 general election.
A statement released by Nelson said the referral came weeks after Texas gained access to the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services SAVE database.
“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, we were also able to confirm the naturalization of dozens more people,” said Secretary Nelson.
Cross-checking became possible after the Trump administration for the first time gave states direct and free access to the federal SAVE database.
The tool allows election officials to verify a voter's citizenship based on immigration and naturalization records.
The statement also said Texas was one of the first states to join a pilot program with DHS, USCIS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to improve the functionality of the database.
“We are in the early stages of this pilot program but are already seeing promising results. This may be the most current and accurate set of data when it comes to citizenship verification,” said Secretary Nelson.
County registrars are expected to complete their investigation by early December, with formal suspensions and potential transfers to follow.
The secretary of state's office said the review will continue, with periodic checks against federal databases to ensure accuracy.
“The SAVE database has proven to be a critical data set and one of many that we will continue to use in Texas to ensure that only qualified voters cast ballots in our elections,” Nelson said.
