Texas Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation into reports of groups that may be registering illegal immigrants to vote in the state.
The survey detail A press release issued Wednesday explained that investigators from the Texas Attorney General’s Election Integrity Unit “recently conducted an undercover operation to identify possible foreign voter registrations in Texas” and discovered several non-profit organizations “located outside the Texas Department of Public Safety.” [DPS] Driver license offices are operating booths offering voter registration assistance for those who conduct business at the driver license office.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (Associated Press/Eric Gay, File)
This is odd, since US citizens can register to vote when they get a new license or ID or renew an existing one. In other words, there is no need for these organizations to stand outside their offices and provide the same services that US citizens can easily get inside official state buildings (unless, of course, they are trying to attract a different target audience: foreigners). For this reason, states want to know what exactly non-profits are doing there and what their true motivation is for offering the same services that are offered to all US citizens.
“Texans are deeply concerned that groups claiming to help register people to vote may be illegally registering people outside of Texas to vote in elections,” Governor Paxton said in a statement.
“If a voter can legally register to vote while running errands at a DPS office, why do they need a second chance to register at an outside booth?” he asked, explaining that his office is investigating the matter and is looking into “every credible report we receive of potential criminal activity that could undermine the integrity of our elections.”
Paxton added that the Biden-Harris administration has allowed millions of illegal immigrants into the country.[W]Without proper safeguards, foreign nationals could illegally influence elections at the local, state and national levels.”
Paxton also reminded everyone that it is a crime for foreign nationals to register to vote.
“Any wrongdoing will be punished to the fullest extent of the law,” he warned.
Related: Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas refuses to acknowledge the cost of illegal immigration to Americans
CBS News
This issue doesn’t just affect Americans in Texas, which is why Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) has promoted the Protecting American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would create safeguards to prevent foreign nationals from voting in U.S. elections. Roy said that even though it is already technically illegal for foreign nationals to vote in federal elections, there are currently no safeguards to prevent this.
“You know, there’s an industry built around bringing illegal immigrants here,” Roy said. Breitbart News Daily in July. “So, of course they’re going to vote.”
“And it’s important to note that our federal government [is] “Under federal law, they automatically register these people through Medicaid and through mandatory DMV registration. And, of course, they register them, but then they say, ‘Oh, but they don’t vote in federal elections so don’t worry about it,'” he said.
“That’s absurd. It’s not a myth. Federal law has been interpreted to prohibit states from checking whether someone is a citizen, when technically the law says they must be a citizen,” he continued.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) (AP Photo/Maryam Zuhaib)
As detailed by Breitbart News, he added:
“We wanted to keep this simple, so we drafted it primarily to follow existing state law. So what’s going to change? First of all, nothing’s going to change immediately for people who are already registered. They’re going to be allowed to go and vote. What we’re asking for is for the next person to register, whoever that is, [who] “If this bill passes, anyone going to register to vote tomorrow would have to bring a passport, a Real ID that verifies citizenship, or if the system doesn’t have that, a driver’s license, photo ID, a copy of their birth certificate or naturalization papers,” he said, explaining that there are other options if people can’t obtain a birth certificate.
Moreover, the bill would effectively place the remaining burden on states, requiring them to clean up their voter rolls and ensure procedures to ensure that only citizens are registered to vote.
“That’s our job. We’re trying to make it as minimally burdensome as possible, but powerful enough to ensure that only citizens can vote,” he explained, noting that the law allows states to decide how best to vet their voter rolls. Virginia did a similar effort in 2023 by checking it against a federal database, he said, and found that 1,500 foreign nationals were registered to vote. Texas did a similar effort a few years ago and found 25,000 foreign nationals in its system, he continued.
Notably, the House passed the bill that same month by a vote of 221 to 198, with only five Democrats joining the Republicans.
Congratulations on passing the SAVE Act! Followwho introduced the House version of our bill.
Now Senate Democrats need to join us in passing the SAVE Act or explain why they believe non-Americans should be able to vote in American elections. https://t.co/uzN8bHSQA1
— Mike Lee (@SenMikeLee) July 10, 2024
