Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has launched an investigation of illegal votes cast in the 2020 and 2022 elections, which alleges more than 100 potential noncitizens illegally cast more than 200 ballots.
"Illegal aliens and foreign nationals must not be allowed to influence Texas elections by casting illegal ballots with impunity," Paxton wrote in a statement announcing the investigation. "I will not allow it to continue."
The probe lends at least some credence to President Donald Trump's campaign claims that there was voter fraud in the contested 2020 presidential election, and Paxton's investigation suggested it might have continued during former President Joe Biden's administration into the 2022 midterms.
Trump signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to provide voter roll databases to the states, enabling Texas to take bold action to advance election integrity.
"Thanks to President Trump's decisive action to help states safeguard the ballot box, this investigation will help Texas hold noncitizens accountable for unlawfully voting in American elections," Paxton's statement concluded.
"If you're a noncitizen who illegally cast a ballot, you will face the full force of the law."
Rep. Troy Nehls, R-Texas, who once was pictured in the House chamber Jan. 6, 2021, holding a gun to keep back 2020 election certification protesters, praised the probe and the effort to "to protect the integrity of our elections."
"Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton launched an investigation into more than 100 potential noncitizens who cast over 200 ballots in the 2020 and 2022 elections," Nehls wrote on X. "Great work!
"We must do everything we can to protect the integrity of our elections."
Evidence brought forth by the Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson, who has held the office since 2023, alleges the majority of the suspected illegal ballots cast by potential noncitizens were in Harris County, the most populous county in the state and the third-most populous county in America. It covers the Democrat-controlled city of Houston, which has had a Democrat mayor for the past 40 years.
AG Paxton's office's investigation is expanding potential election fraud in Guadalupe (San Antonio), Cameron (the southern most county in the state and on the Mexico border), and Eastland (west of Dallas) counties, too, according to the release.
This investigation comes after Paxton had announced last month a probe into 33 potential noncitizens voting in the 2024 presidential election. That probe relied on data obtained by the secretary of state through the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service’s SAVE Database, according the release.
Earlier this week, Paxton released indictments and arrests of nine individuals, including several public officials, for election crimes related to an ongoing vote harvesting scheme in Frio County.
"Let me be crystal clear: The integrity of our elections is the bedrock of our democratic process, and any elected official trying to cheat the system will have to answer for it," Paxton wrote in a statement Monday.
"Under my watch, attempts to rig elections and silence the will of the voters will be met with the full force of the law. I will continue to fight to ensure Texas has free and fair elections and work with Frio County District Attorney Audrey Louis to ensure justice is served in this case."
Eric Mack ✉
Eric Mack has been a writer and editor at Newsmax since 2016. He is a 1998 Syracuse University journalism graduate and a New York Press Association award-winning writer.