Texas Legislature Turns Blind Eye to Noncitizen Voters



While passing the toughest anti-sanctuary law in the nation, Texas legislators did nothing to prevent noncitizens from voting in the Lone Star State.

With 2 million noncitizens holding Texas drivers licenses, and an unknown number on the state’s voting rolls via motor-voter, lawmakers weighed several bills to tighten ballot security.

Senate Bill 136 by Sen. Van Taylor, R-Plano, and House Bill 3474 by Rep. Pat Fallon, R-Little Elm, would have required the Texas secretary of state to use the Department of Public Safety database to verify citizenship before granting voting privileges. Both bills died.

“For those seeking voter-roll integrity, it doesn’t get much more simple than making sure all voters are citizens,” said JoAnn Fleming, president of Grassroots America, a conservative activist group in Tyler.

Republican leaders in Texas took a tough stand against sanctuary cities by imposing civil penalties on local officials who fail to cooperate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

On election security, Attorney General Ken Paxton declared that local registrars were “complicit” in allowing voter fraud. But GOP leaders went limp at the Legislature. Without imposing citizenship verification provisions, the sprawling border state leaves itself open for mischief at the ballot box.

Another commonsense bill — HB 521 by Rep. Mike Schofield, R-Houston – would automatically cancel the voter registrations of any individuals who acknowledge their noncitizen status. Even that was too much for House Republicans, who let the bill die in committee.

Make no mistake, this is not a scheme that can be attributed to Democrats alone,” Fleming asserted. “When anti-voter fraud bills can’t even get a hearing in a committee chaired by a Republican we are no better than a banana republic.”

In 2015, the election-watch group True the Vote, found eight Texas counties had more registered voters than voting-age adults. Most of the counties were in the Rio Grande Valley, along the Mexican border.

 Earlier this year, a 37-year-old green card holder from Mexico was sentenced to eight years in prison for voting illegally in two elections in Dallas County.

“It is relatively easy for aliens to commit voter fraud through the motor-voter system,” FAIR reported. “When renewing a driver’s license by mail, they simply check the boxes indicating that they wish to be registered as voters and affirming that they are a U.S. citizen. Most often, they are added to the voter rolls without any attempt to verify the applicant’s citizenship.”

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Content written by Federation for American Immigration Reform staff.

16 Comments

  1. avatar

    I Saw Hidden I-phone Videos of Michigan Businesses on FOX News

    Actually setting up Democratic voter buses and paperwork for 1000s of IAs to commit voter fraud.

    • avatar

      Fox News is fake news of the right….not believable and the same for any to the left…….has to be honest……

  2. avatar

    Yes, merely being asked about citizenship
    when registering to vote
    —either in person or by mail—
    does nothing to prevent non-citizens from voting.

    Texas will eventually create better methods
    for verifying that all registered voters
    are citizens of the USA at least 18 years old.

    Information about location of birth
    and dates of naturalization are public records.
    Each Secretary of State or other election officer
    should automatically check citizenship
    by consulting these public records.

    And the United States might create a list of all residents,
    which would be the logical place to record citizenship.
    Directory USA might become the first place to check
    to see whether a certain adult is an American citizen.

    Read more about this national identity bureau:
    https://s3.amazonaws.com/aws-website-jamesleonardpark—freelibrary-3puxk/CY-NID.html

  3. avatar

    From the article The Cold Civil War by Angelo M. Codevilla from The Claremont Institute:

    “Today, states and cities ruled by the Left are seizing disproportionate influence in national politics by counting the votes of non-citizens. California issued drivers’ licenses—de facto voter registration—to a million illegals. Countless localities, such as New York City, Detroit, and Florida’s Broward County, do similar things. A few million votes here and there add up to a wall protecting today’s ruling class as it imposes itself on the rest of the country. Because this fraud so threatens the body politic’s integrity, a federal law requiring positive proof of citizenship for voting in federal elections is a sine qua non of continued national cohesion.”

    • avatar

      Secborders there isn’t a left n a right were are one country. However, most people want to label themselves n find a reason to fight; instead if a dialogue n move forward. Example Republicans n Democrats: the Reason we are divided.

      The Civil War was a different time, you can make any argument based on fake news, propaganda, or facts but the reality is that, The preservation of the Union secured our way of life, and the culmination of slavery. Lincoln gave his life for the country n probably the most important figure ever. I see no left nor right on the Civic War I do see one country, and The People.

      Mr Ward does bring up a salient point that defines us every 4 years that needs a solution and accountability once and for all. I think we will be surprised that many of those illegal voters will be our n all types, once caught.

      Think about it, most of these illegals only have time to work, and make their bosses wealthy 7 days a week…….

        • avatar

          I really doubt it…look around…nobody stick to each other…..besides the States militia are no longer what the founding fathers intended…..example……..The Honorable Ancient Artillery….2nd oldest in the World my ancestors founded and members of it…..not to mention one of them was killed at “The Great Swamp Fight” in 1645…..

          That militia is composed of military men…..what do you think? they will stop you in a heart beat!!!

          By the way why would there be a Civil War again?….you voted for Trump against you feel you need to take him out of office…is that what you want? take it easy man……elections are due in 4 years…..do it the civilized manner….

  4. avatar

    It’s Russia Russia every day, and they obviously try to hack us, like we do to them, but the media and certain people in this country don’t seem to care that citizens of other countries are voting.

    The mayor of London wants Trump banned from Britain. Too bad he never tried to ban the jihadists who he has defended, praised, and made excuses for, like much of the political establishment there. It’s obvious now that the London attackers should have been deported back to their homelands because they made very public displays of their allegiance to extremist groups. Instead, the government has long harassed and threatened those English citizens who they accuse of “hate speech” and Islamophobia. Britain has a three decades record of ignoring the sexual assaults and rape of women and children by those of foreign origin. In fact, they do more than ignore it. In many cases the victims are accused of lying, or enticing their attackers.

    It’s the same with every attack. Lots of words about not “dividing us” and that it’s somehow western societies that are responsible because they have failed to “assimilate” Muslims. Never mind that they don’t want to assimilate and in fact insist on their own separate legal system, which on it’s face conflicts with modern laws. Britain and other western European countries bow and scrape to 15th century fundamentalism. Kind of like the Democrats in this country. Hillary promised to greatly increase the number of “refugees” coming here.

    • avatar

      Not sure what the foregoing has to do with illegal-alien voting. Newsworthy to note that Gov. Abbott’s 19-point agenda for the upcoming special contains just one election reform: tightening mail-in ballot security.

      • avatar

        I made a comment about mail ballots on the Virginia non citizen voting column. Candidates in Florida know when they are mailed and some go to the recipient’s houses and actually assist voters in filling out ballots. They would get arrested for doing the same thing at the polls.

    • avatar

      Leland stop the madness, simply put Trump is wrong and needs to apologize. We all make mistakes, even the prime minister has said so.
      About time we out this behind us n fix this place. I just started to think that all this is being done in purpose to out a smoke screen n deceive the real facts going on behind the curtain……

      Do you think it is normal all the money that they have fir their businesses does not come from American Banks but Russia?……it appears to me that the Russia ns have played Trump n his companies a dirty plot by pretending to do businesses but the using that to undermine our democracy.

      I don’t believe our president would purporsedly plot again us. It is my believe that this is the case n that Trump thinks he can do whatever he wants not realizing he is no longer a business man but our president.

      He needs people next to him to make him focus for instance to fuc the fraud in the elections

      Now THINK…..if he is a smart man, which he should……why all this animosity n tweets unrelated to our nation agenda??????

  5. avatar

    Honestly best to handle this is to once and for all get that list and see who they are…..n finally as in the motor vehicle asks you if you are going to vote, present your license or State ID and a process to check this on the fly.

    All voting should be like in Germany, the smartest country in the planet for voting, to do this without any technology, by hand. Then, wha happened now, would have never taken place….