TEXAS — More than a million ineligible voters have been removed from Texas voter rolls since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law in 2021, according to a Monday news release from Gov. Greg Abbott.

What You Need To Know

  • More than a million ineligible voters have been purged from Texas voters rolls since Senate Bill 1 was signed into law in September 2021, Gov. Greg Abbott said Monday

  • Senate Bill 1 is a sweeping and controversial election integrity law that bans drive-through voting and empowers poll watchers, among other measures 

  • Abbott said those people removed from voter rolls include noncitizens, the deceased and people who moved out of state 

  • Abbott claims that of the 6,500 noncitizens removed, about 1,930 have a voter history

Abbott said those ineligibles include people who have moved out of state, are deceased and are noncitizens.

Signed into law by Abbott in September 2021, Senate Bill 1 is a sweeping elections law that, among other things, bans drive-through voting, empowers poll watchers and sets new rules, with possible criminal penalties, for those who assist voters in casting their ballots.

“The Secretary of State and county voter registrars have an ongoing legal requirement to review the voter rolls, remove ineligible voters, and refer any potential illegal voting to the Attorney General’s Office and local authorities for investigation and prosecution,” Abbott wrote. “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’s office broke down those ineligible voters removed from rolls:

  • 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 suspense list
  • More than 134,000 voters who responded to an address confirmation notice that they had moved
  • More than 65,000 voters who failed to respond to a notice of examination
  • More than 19,000 who requested their voter registration be canceled

Abbott claims that of the 6,500 noncitizens removed, about 1,930 have a voter history and the Secretary of State’s office is sending those records to the attorney general’s office for investigation and possible legal action.

If you believe you have been purged from Texas’ voter rolls in error or for some easily fixable reason, Spectrum News 1 has laid out the steps you should take to rectify the situation.

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