We will continue to actively protect Texans’ sacred right to vote while vigorously protecting our elections from illegal voting.”

– Governor Greg Abbott

Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN, Texas – Governor Greg Abbott announced today that since Signing of Senate Bill 1 Since the law took effect in 2021, Texas has purged over a million people from the state’s voter rolls, including people who have moved out of state, died, and are non-citizens. This purging process is ongoing and will continue.

“Election integrity is critical to our democracy,” said Governor Abbott“I signed the nation’s strongest voting laws to protect the right to vote and crack down on illegal voting. These reforms have resulted in the removal of over a million ineligible people from our voter rolls over the past three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state. The Secretary of State and county registrars of voters are required by law to review voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potentially illegal vote to the Attorney General’s office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution. Illegal voting will never be tolerated in Texas. We will continue to actively protect Texans’ sacred right to vote while aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting.”

Of the more than 6,500 non-citizens removed from the voter rolls, approximately 1,930 have a voting history. The Secretary of State’s office is in the process of sending all 1,930 records to the Attorney General’s office for investigation and legal action if necessary. To better combat illegal voting, Governor Abbott signed Bill 1243 went into effect last year, increasing the penalty for illegal voting, including voting by noncitizens, to a second-degree felony.

In 2021, Governor Abbott signed Senate Bill 1, Senate Bill 1113And House Bill 574 Law. Senate Bill 1 made lying on voter registration a state prison crime, criminalized ballot harvesting, required the Secretary of State to conduct random election audits every two years, banned the distribution of unsolicited absentee ballot applications and ballots, and required identification for absentee ballots. Senate Bill 1113 authorized the Secretary of State to withhold funds from counties that fail to remove noncitizens from their voter rolls. House Bill 574 made it a second-degree crime to knowingly count invalid votes or refuse to count valid votes.

In 2017, the governor signed Senate Bill 5which increased penalties for poll workers who knowingly allow non-citizens and other ineligible voters to vote.