Texas Refutes Claims That Millions of Illegal Immigrants Are Registering to Vote

‘We are working now to determine why there is such a large discrepancy,’ the secretary of state’s office said.

Empty envelopes of opened vote-by-mail ballots for the presidential primary are stacked on a table at the King County Elections office in Renton, Wash., on March 10, 2020. Jason Redmond/AFP via Getty Images

Texas’s secretary of state has countered online claims that Social Security Administration data show that the number of voters registering without photographic identification is skyrocketing in Texas, Pennsylvania, and Arizona because of illegal immigration.

“The number of voters registering without a photo ID is SKYROCKETING IN 3 key swing states: Arizona, Texas, and Pennsylvania,” an X user posted on the social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, referring to Social Security data to claim that there were 220,731 such registrations in Arizona, 1,250,710 in Texas, and 580,513 in Pennsylvania.

“HAVV allows voters to register with a Social Security Number (4 digits). Illegals are not able to get licenses there. But they can get Social Security cards (for work authorization permits),” the post stated. HAVV refers to the Social Security Administration’s Help America Vote Verification (HAVV) system.

Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, a Republican, described the social media-driven claims as “inaccurate reports” in a recent statement.

“It is totally inaccurate that 1.2 million voters have registered to vote in Texas without a photo ID this year,” she said, adding that voter rolls have increased by only 57,711 voters in Texas since the start of 2024.

The state currently has about 17.9 million registered voters, according to the Texas secretary of state’s website.

When residents in Texas register to vote, the statement noted, “they must provide a driver license number or a Social Security number” and as an “individual registers to vote with just a [Social Security number (SSN)], the state verifies that the SSN is authentic.”

“The 1.2 million figure comes from the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) website, which is supposed to report the number of times that states have asked to verify an individual’s [Social Security] number. The SSA number is clearly incorrect, and we are working now to determine why there is such a large discrepancy,” the Texas secretary of state’s office stated.

Texas requires a voter to show proof of identity to vote, the office said, noting that federal law allows a person to vote without one.

In Pennsylvania, there had been more than 75,000 new voter registrations, not more than 580,000, Matt Heckel, a spokesperson for the Pennsylvania Department of State, told The Associated Press. There were approximately 8.7 million registered voters in the state on April 8, he said.

Individuals in most states register to vote with either their driver’s license number, state ID number, or the last four digits of their Social Security number. States use the first two options to verify the individual’s identity with departments of motor vehicles. This accounts for “the vast majority” of voters, David Becker, founder and executive director of The Center for Election Innovation and Research, told The Associated Press. A voter’s identity can be verified using the third option through the SSA system.

An official in Arizona’s Maricopa County, which makes up about 60 percent of the state’s voters, has had about 39,653 new voter registrations since the start of the year, Maricopa County Recorder Stephen Richer said in a post on X last week. He refuted claims that 220,731 people had registered to vote.

Illegal Immigration Concerns

The statements about voter registration numbers come as illegal immigration has become among the most prominent issues for Americans in the 2024 election race.

A poll released by Monmouth University in late February shows that six in 10 Americans believe that illegal immigration is a “very serious” problem, while another 23 percent believe that it is a “somewhat serious” problem.

“Illegal immigration has taken center stage as a defining issue this presidential election year. Other Monmouth polling found this to be Biden’s weakest policy area, including among his fellow Democrats,” Patrick Murray, head of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

There have been longstanding concerns among Republicans and former President Donald Trump that the recent surge in illegal immigration could lead to an increase in illegal voting in elections.

Illegal immigrants walk along the highway through Arriaga, in southern Mexico, on Jan. 8, 2024. Edgar H. Clemente/AP Photo

Earlier this year, the former president said in Iowa that he believes Democrats want more and more illegal immigrants to enter the United States “because they want to sign these people up to vote.”

“They can’t speak a word of English for the most part, but they’re signing them up,” President Trump said.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk also wrote on X that Democrats are “importing voters” by allowing mass immigration into the United States. Last month, he warned that “unvetted illegal immigrants” coming into the United States represent a “national security threat.”

“It is highly probable that the groundwork is being laid for something far worse than 9/11. Just a matter of time,” Mr. Musk said, while suggesting that some of those individuals will illegally vote in elections.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.