Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is investigating reports of nonprofits illegally registering noncitizens to vote.
“Nonprofit organizations have been located outside Texas Department of Public Safety Driver License offices, operating booths offering to assist in voter registration for persons doing business,” reads an Aug. 21 press release from Paxton’s office.
Investigators with Paxton’s Election Integrity Unit recently performed “undercover operations” in “major metropolitan areas” regarding possible registration of noncitizens to vote, according to the release. Investigators have “already confirmed” nonprofit registration efforts outside Texas DPS offices.
“If eligible citizens can legally register to vote when conducting their business at a DPS office, why would they need a second opportunity to register with a booth outside?” Paxton said in the release. “The Biden-Harris Administration has intentionally flooded our country with illegal aliens, and without proper safeguards, foreign nationals can illegally influence elections at the local, state, and national level.”
The attorney general’s office is continuing an “ongoing investigation,” Paxton said in a statement to The Federalist.
“We cannot provide more information at this time,” Paxton said. “It is encouraging that these booths are now prohibited from operating on DPS property.”
The DPS had allegedly been tacitly allowing these efforts near driver’s license offices, according to Texas Scorecard. But due to Paxton’s investigation, the department “temporarily prohibited” voter registration groups from operating on its property.
“It is a crime to vote — or to register to vote — if you are not a United States Citizen,” Paxton said in the release. “Any wrongdoing will be punished to the fullest extent of the law.”
It is a “crime in Texas to lie about one’s citizenship” or to help another person do so when registering to vote, according to the release. The crime brings a punishment of up to two years in a state jail and a $10,000 fine. It is also illegal in Texas for noncitizens to vote or help someone else do so. Violations bring a punishment of up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
“Texans are deeply troubled by the possibility that organizations purporting to assist with voter registration are illegally registering noncitizens to vote in our elections,” the release said.
Republican Gov. Greg Abbott echoed a similar sentiment on X, referring to Paxton’s investigation.
“Illegally registering non-citizens to vote won’t be tolerated in Texas. It’s a crime,” Abbott said. “We won’t let cheaters influence elections in Texas.”
