(The Center Square) – The Texas Secretary of State’s Office has launched a new election security grant program to strengthen election integrity in all 254 counties in Texas. It is funded through the federal Help America Vote Act.
The grant was announced after the SOS referred the names of 33 potential noncitizens to the Office of Attorney General to investigate alleged voter fraud, an investigation which began this week.
Approximately $10 million in grants is available to county governments based on the number of registered voters in each county. The funds require a 20% match by the county.
The grants “will go a long way toward helping counties better secure their elections, and I’m pleased to partner with counties to promote election security throughout Texas,” Secretary of State Jane Nelson said.
Grant money may be used for counties to comply with paper audit trail requirements, replace decertified electronic pollbooks, ensure video surveillance systems comply with ballot security measures, implement measures to protect election equipment and supplies, and make IT services upgrades.
Counties have until June 30 to apply for the grants. Awards will be announced by August 1.
County commissioner’s courts are required to submit a resolution in support of election security and document how funds will be used related to election security.
“Texas voters deserve free and secure elections. These grants will help ensure that security for many election cycles to come,” Nelson said.
In March, President Donald Trump issued an election integrity executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to provide states with free access to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services’ Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) program. The program makes immigration status information available to state agencies for verification purposes for a range of programs and reasons.
“The right of American citizens to have their votes properly counted and tabulated, without illegal dilution, is vital to determining the rightful winner of an election,” Trump’s order states, adding that the federal government hasn’t adequately taken actions “to prohibit non-citizens from registering to vote.”
Last year, Nelson sued the previous administration after it refused to give Texas and other states access to a federal database tracking the immigration status of residents, The Center Square reported.
Under the new administration, Nelson’s office was granted access to the SAVE database and is participating in a pilot program to identify noncitizens who registered to vote or voted in Texas elections.
After referring 33 potential noncitizens who voted in the November 2024 election to the OAG, the OAG announced that it opened an investigation this week.
“Noncitizens must not be allowed to influence American elections, and I will use the full weight of my office to investigate all voter fraud,” Attorney General Ken Paxton said. “In order to be able to trust the integrity of our elections, the results must be determined by our own citizens – not foreign nationals breaking the law to illegally vote. These potential instances of unlawful voting will be thoroughly investigated, and I will continue to stand with President Trump in fighting to ensure that our state’s elections are safe and secure.”
The investigation of 33 potentially illegal votes is expected to be the first of many more.
Last year, Texas removed 6,500 noncitizens from its voter rolls but requested information on noncitizens from DHS/USCIS, The Center Square reported. This included a list of 454,289 registered voters in Texas “who have never had their citizenship verified.” Texas didn’t receive the requested information. Now, Texas has access to the SAVE program and is working through the data.
