Texas Agrees to Stop Investigation Into Voter Citizenship
As part of a legal settlement, the state will rescind its review of the citizenship status of nearly 100,000 voters in the last election.
Friday, Texas Secretary of State David Whitley announced that he would cancel an advisory his office sent out in January, questioning the citizenship of almost 100,000 voters. The advisory was halted in February by a federal judge, and three lawsuits were brought against the state by civil rights groups and naturalized citizens. The rescinding of the order is part of a settlement from the three lawsuits, including the announcing of a new review process and the state paying out nearly half-a-million dollars for the plaintiff's legal fees.
In the list's early days, many of the names were found to be legal citizens, or added by mistake. A committee was formed by President Trump, but found no evidence of rampant voter fraud, a notion agreed with by Fred Biery of the United States District Court in San Antonio, who blocked the review, calling voter fraud an "infinitesimal" problem.
As reported by the New York Times, Secretary Whitley issued a statement saying,
It is of paramount importance that Texas voters can have confidence in the integrity, accuracy, and efficiency of the electoral system in which they participate. Today’s agreement accomplishes our office’s goal of maintaining an accurate list of qualified registered voters while eliminating the impact of any list maintenance activity on naturalized U.S. citizens.