As the November elections draw near, Texas Governor Greg Abbott has revealed that over a million individuals have been purged from the state's voter rolls.
This action is part of an ongoing initiative to eliminate ineligible voters, a move that has been in progress since the enactment of Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) in September 2021. The law, which was perceived as one of several Republican-led efforts to impose new voting restrictions following the 2020 presidential election, has resulted in the removal of 1.1 million voters, including those who have relocated, passed away, or are not U.S. citizens.
According to Newsweek, Governor Abbott's office has provided a breakdown of the removed voters. Over 6,500 noncitizens, more than 6,000 felons, over 457,000 deceased individuals, and approximately 463,000 voters on the suspense list have been purged. Additionally, over 134,000 voters who confirmed their relocation, more than 65,000 voters who did not respond to an examination notice, and over 19,000 voters who requested to cancel their registration have also been removed.
Governor Abbott emphasized the legal obligation of the Secretary of State and county voter registrars to regularly review the voter rolls, eliminate ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal voting to the Attorney General's Office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution. He stated, "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."
The Governor further noted that approximately 1,930 of the over 6,500 noncitizens removed from the voter rolls have a voting history. These individuals are being referred to the Attorney General's Office for potential legal action. This follows the enactment of HB 1243 last year, which escalated the penalty for illegal voting to a second-degree felony.
The news of the voter roll purge has sparked reactions on social media, particularly among progressive and liberal voters. They have urged Texans to verify their voter registration status. However, Governor Abbott maintains that the removal of ineligible voters is integral to preserving "election integrity."
Critics, on the other hand, have censured laws like SB 1, arguing that they restrict voting rights and disenfranchise marginalized voters. The U.S. District Court for the Western District of Texas acknowledged these concerns in August 2023, ruling that certain aspects of SB 1 violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The court found that the law's requirement to reject mail ballots and mail ballot applications due to minor paperwork errors or omissions disenfranchised "eligible voters seeking to participate in our democracy."
Texas is not alone in its efforts to cleanse voter rolls. Other Republican-led states, including Ohio and Virginia, have also removed thousands of voters from their electoral rolls. In Ohio, Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose declared 26,000 voter registrations inactive last year. He stated, "When it comes to maintaining our voter rolls, we don't quietly 'purge' active voters. We remove inactive registrations after we've learned a voter has moved and not been active at the address for more than four years. That's been the federal law for three decades, and it's essential to keeping our rolls honest by eliminating duplicate registrations."
In Virginia, officials under Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin reported last November that a computer software error had led to the removal of 3,400 voters from the rolls. As the November elections approach, these actions underscore the ongoing debate over voting rights and election integrity in the United States.
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