Texas removes more than 1 million ineligible people from voter rolls

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced that more than 1 million ineligible people have been removed from Texas voter registration rolls since the last presidential election. Likewise, he indicated that this purge is part of an effort to "protect the right to vote and to crackdown on illegal voting."

"These reforms have led to the removal of over one million ineligible people from our voter rolls in the last three years, including noncitizens, deceased voters, and people who moved to another state. ... Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated. We will continue to actively safeguard Texans’ sacred right to vote while also aggressively protecting our elections from illegal voting," Abbott said in a statement. 

The Ineligibility Category

The governor shared the reasons why people were ineligible to vote and categorized them into:

- More than 6,500 noncitizens.

- More than 6,000 voters who have a felony conviction.

- More than 457,000 deceased people.

- More than 463,000 voters on the suspense list.

- More than 134,000 voters who did not respond to address confirmation notice that they had moved.

- More than 65,000 voters who did not respond to a notice of examination.

- More than 19,000 voters who requested to cancel their registration.

The "suspense list" is where counties place voters who do not respond to requested certification forms.

According to the release, "Of the over 6,500 noncitizens removed from the voter rolls, approximately 1,930 have a voter 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 potential legal action."

The removal comes as the governor seeks to "crackdown on illegal voting." To that end, according to the release, Governor Abbott signed House Bill 1243 last year, which not only aids this goal, but also increases the penalty for illegal voting, including voting by noncitizens, to a second-degree felony.