Texas Poll Workers Must Now Require Naturalization Docs From People Trying To Vote With Noncitizen IDs
After instructing poll workers last week to give ballots to people who present a noncitizen driver’s license, the Texas secretary of state updated the guidance to require those voters to also provide proof of naturalization.
“[E]lection workers have an obligation under state criminal law not to facilitate illegal voting by non-citizens,” reads a Friday memo from Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson to election officials regarding the updated guidance. “When an individual attempts to vote by presenting a temporary or limited-term driver’s license (which federal regulations say must be issued only to non-citizens who are lawfully present in this country) election workers must require that the individual produce a naturalization card or naturalization certificate demonstrating U.S. citizenship to receive a regular ballot.”
Nelson said the change came after the state’s attorney general did not respond to her office’s request for a “formal legal opinion” on “this important issue.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, told The Federalist the updated guidance is a “good step” in the right direction.
“It is critically important that Texas take every legal step necessary to ensure that not a single noncitizen votes,” Roy said. “The secretary of state’s modified guidance was a good step in that direction. I think we need to have continued conversation ensuring that we’ve done all we can do … and the Texas legislature should clarify the law further to ensure integrity in our elections.”
Brian Harrison, a Republican Texas state representative who worked with Roy and others to have the guidance amended expressed approval of the update in a Friday post on X, though he told The Federalist it was “really unfortunate that it took such public pressure from folks like Rep. Roy and myself to force the Secretary of State to do the right thing and retract that woefully misguided election advisory.”
“Early voting is starting soon, so that is why I felt that we didn’t have the luxury of waiting and had to go public demanding this guidance be retracted,” Harrison continued. “The most important thing is to ensure that all agencies of Texas government, especially the secretary of state, are laser-focused to ensure that zero noncitizens vote in our elections. Any number other than zero is a failure and is unacceptable to me.”
The initial guidance, issued Tuesday by Nelson’s office and signed off by Director of Elections Christina Adkins, instructed poll workers to give ballots to people who presented a “limited-term” driver’s license or ID card.
Individuals who are legally residing in the state but are not citizens can be issued “temporary or limited-term” driver’s licenses or identification cards by the Texas Department of Public Safety. If an individual presents a limited-term noncitizen license or ID and is already registered to vote, the original guidance instructed poll workers to “inform the individual that the identification presented suggests that the individual is not a United States citizen” and that noncitizen voting is illegal.
“If the individual does not have further questions or concerns and wishes to proceed to vote, the individual should be offered a regular ballot,” the original guidance stated. As noted by Nelson’s initial guidance, “it is possible the individual became a naturalized United States citizen after the limited-term license or identification card was issued and has not updated his or her Texas driver’s license or identification card.”
Roy indicated on Wednesday that his office was “aware of [the] problem” presented by the original guidance and was working with Nelson’s office to “address” it. In a follow-up post on Thursday, Roy, citing the Texas Department of Public Safety, claimed that more than 2.8 million noncitizens have driver’s licenses, commercial driver’s licenses, or IDs.
Roy told The Federalist that when he and others became aware of the original guidance, they “engaged in friendly diplomacy with the secretary of state and attorney general to make clear that it would be a mistake to just issue blanket guidance accepting a noncitizen ID as proof to be able to vote in the election when in fact a noncitizen ID ought to first raise the alarm bell that this individual may not be a citizen.”
Roy noted that it is possible a small subset of individuals may have become naturalized (and therefore eligible to vote) and have yet to receive an ID, though that should be accounted for “through other means.”
Republican Texas State Senator Paul Bettencourt also weighed in on the issue, stressing the “paramount importance” of “voter roll integrity” after Nelson requested a legal opinion from the attorney general.
“Voter roll integrity is of paramount importance to any democracy,” Bettencourt wrote in a Thursday post on X. “As a Senator and former County Tax Assessor-Collector and Voter Registrar, there is a simple set of facts I believe in. All eligible U.S. citizens should be allowed to register and vote in Texas and non-citizens should not be allowed to do either.”
For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.
Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2
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