Texas Flags 2,700 Potential Non-Citizens on Voter Rolls
Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson recently announced the identification of 2,724 potential non-citizens registered to vote, following a full review of the 18 million-person voter roll against the federal SAVE database.
As of October 2025, county officials are now mandated to contact these individuals, giving them 30 days to provide proof of citizenship before their registration is subject to cancellation.
This development has immediately intensified the ongoing national debate regarding the legal due process required for accurate voter list maintenance.
Who Can Vote in Texas?
The legal framework is absolute: under both federal law and the Texas Election Code, only American citizens possess the right to register and cast a ballot in Texas elections.
The federal National Voter Registration Act and state laws, including Tex. Elec. Code Sec. 11.002, explicitly limit voting to a “qualified voter,” defined as a U.S. citizen.
Moreover, the Texas Legislature significantly amplified these provisions in 2023 with House Bill 1243, elevating the penalty for illegal voting from a misdemeanor to a second-degree felony, which carries a possible maximum sentence of up to 20 years in state prison.
This severe penalty underscores the state’s absolute commitment to protecting the ballot box.
As University of Kentucky election-law scholar Professor Joshua Douglas noted, “Federal and state laws already make noncitizen voting a serious offense, yet evidence demonstrates that it occurs extremely rarely.
The crucial challenge for all states is ensuring that they verify citizenship without inadvertently or wrongly disenfranchising eligible American voters.”
The Announcement: 2,724 Names Flagged for Review
Secretary Nelson framed the initiative as a “routine data-maintenance review” essential for preserving election integrity in Texas.
The total of 2,724 potential non-citizens was identified following the complete cross-check of the state's voter records with the federal SAVE database, which contains immigration and citizenship information.
In the coming days, county registrars will begin the process of contacting every flagged individual.
They must be given 30 days to provide conclusive proof of U.S. citizenship. Failure to respond or confirmation that the individual is indeed a non-citizen will result in the immediate cancellation of their voter registration under Texas Election Code Sec. 16.0332.
Crucially, any confirmed instances of illegal voting or registration are then swiftly referred to the Office of the Attorney General for potential criminal prosecution.
Governor Greg Abbott quickly amplified the Secretary of State’s announcement, taking to X to reinforce the state’s hardline stance on election law enforcement. His post, which instantly went viral, underscored the non-negotiable requirement for citizenship:
The Texas Secretary of State identified over 2,700 potential illegal immigrants are registered to vote.
We are removing them from the voter rolls.
Only US citizens can vote in Texas.https://t.co/gTmfYWqny6
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) October 21, 2025
The Central Controversy: What Does “Potential” Really Mean?
The core of the legal and political controversy lies in the word "potential."
While the SAVE system, a resource managed by the Department of Homeland Security, helps verify immigration status, it was originally designed for verifying eligibility for government benefits, not specifically for voter verification.
Critics, including respected organizations like the Brennan Center for Justice, caution that the data within the SAVE system can be notoriously outdated or contain significant errors.
For example, a lawful permanent resident who has successfully naturalized as a U.S. citizen may still be inaccurately listed as a non-citizen if federal records have not been quickly or promptly updated.
This is not an academic risk. Back in 2019, Texas faced an aggressive public backlash when a nearly identical review incorrectly flagged tens of thousands of naturalized citizens.
That previous misstep resulted in multiple high-profile lawsuits and a costly settlement, ultimately forcing state officials to drastically overhaul the methodology used for this process.
Balancing State Authority and Due Process
From a strictly legal perspective, this Texas voter roll initiative perfectly illustrates both the clear authority and the fundamental limits of state power under the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Texas Election Code.
States have a statutory and constitutional mandate to conduct "reasonable list maintenance" to remove all ineligible voters, which includes individuals who are not citizens.
They are expressly permitted to use data-matching systems such as SAVE, provided the entire process incorporates safeguards to ensure maximum accuracy and full due process.
Constitutional Limits: Safeguarding Against Wrongful Purges
However, that authority is not absolute. Federal courts have consistently ruled that states absolutely cannot rely solely on data that is known to be unreliable or potentially flawed to purge registered voters.
Any removal process that fails to provide a voter with timely notice or a genuine opportunity to prove their eligibility will likely be deemed a clear violation of the 14th Amendment’s due-process clause and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Nina Perales, Vice President of Litigation for the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF), powerfully commented: “When the state relies upon flawed databases, it significantly risks purging bona fide U.S. citizens from the voter rolls."
"The law unequivocally requires both notice and an opportunity to respond before anyone is removed and that fundamental safeguard must be honored, without exception.”
This critical legal tension, protecting the integrity of elections while simultaneously safeguarding access to the ballot is now the centerpiece of this massive statewide effort.
Broader Context and Future Litigation Risk
This latest Texas review arrives at a time when the topic of election security is more politically charged than ever.
Long-tail legal search terms such as “Texas election integrity investigation” and “noncitizen voting penalties under Texas law” highlight the immense public interest in how voter rolls are maintained.
Adding to the tension is a proposed constitutional amendment, Texas Proposition 16, which is on the ballot this November 4 and seeks to explicitly add "persons who are not citizens of the United States" to the list of those ineligible to vote in the state constitution.
While the perception of widespread vulnerability continues to drive aggressive policy reform, official data suggests that actual instances of non-citizen voting are exceedingly rare.
A 2024 study by the Bipartisan Policy Center documented fewer than 100 verified cases nationwide between 2016 and 2022, out of a staggering total of more than 250 million votes cast.
Nevertheless, Secretary Nelson’s mandate is clear: “Only U.S. citizens can vote in Texas. Ensuring that fact is part of our statutory duty to maintain the undisputed integrity of our elections.”
The legal community is watching the execution of this review with extreme interest.
While the Secretary of State is acting within the state's express authority, the crucial next steps how county officials manage data accuracy, handle voter appeals, and communicate with affected citizens will ultimately determine whether this initiative successfully strengthens public confidence or simply invites a new wave of costly and lengthy litigation.
