Map Shows States Where Migrants Are Being Purged From Voter Rolls

Texas Governor Greg Abbott announced on Monday that 6,500 noncitizens were removed from the Lone Star State’s voter rolls ahead of the 2024 presidential race, following several other Republican-led states that have done so in recent weeks.
Republicans have celebrated the removal of noncitizens from voter rolls as a victory for election security after previously raising concerns about migrants voting in U.S. elections. Critics, however, have accused conservatives of overstating the issue of migrants illegally voting, arguing that while it does happen from time to time, the phenomenon remains rare.
Abbott announced on Monday that more than one million voters, including 6,500 noncitizens, have been removed from the state’s voter rolls.
Others removed from the voter rolls included 6,000 voters convicted of a felony, more than 457,000 people who have died, 463,000 voters on the suspense list, 134,000 who responded to a confirmation notice indicating they have moved, 65,000 who did not respond to a notice of examination and 19,000 who requested to cancel their registration.
“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. Illegal voting in Texas will never be tolerated,” Abbot said in a statement.
Several other states have recently removed noncitizens from their voting rolls.
Newsweek reached out to officials in each state for additional comment via email.
In Alabama, Secretary of State Wes Allen wrote in an August 13 press release that he identified 3,251 noncitizens registered to vote in the state and ordered county officials to inactivate those voters.
“I have been clear that I will not tolerate the participation of noncitizens in our elections,” Allen said. “I have even gone so far as to testify before a United States Senate Committee regarding the importance of this issue. We have examined the current voter file in an attempt to identify anyone who appears on that list that has been issued a noncitizen identification number.”
Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry issued an order on Monday targeting noncitizen voting, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.
His order required states offering registration forms to include a notice that noncitizen voters, as well as ordering the Office of Motor Vehicles to make a list of people in the state who were issued temporary identification, which Secretary of State Nancy Landry will check.
Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose, a Republican, announced earlier in August that 597 noncitizens have been removed from the state’s voter rolls. That number includes 138 who appeared to cast a ballot in elections despite not having citizenship.
“I’m duty-bound to make sure people who haven’t yet earned citizenship in this country do not vote in our elections,” LaRose said in a statement. “We’ve so far identified 597 individuals who’ve registered to vote in Ohio despite not being citizens of the United States, as our state constitution requires.”
Earlier in 2024, LaRose removed nearly 155,000 voters who appeared to be abandoned and inactive for at least four consecutive years from the state’s voter rolls.
Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin has also removed noncitizens from the state’s voter rolls.
“The Virginia model for Election Security works. This isn’t a Democrat or Republican issue, it’s an American and Virginian issue. Every legal vote deserves to be counted without being watered down by illegal votes or inaccurate machines. In Virginia, we don’t play games and our model for election security is working,” Youngkin said in a statement.
In an executive order, he wrote that 6,303 non-citizens were removed from the voter rolls between January 2022 and July 2024.
NBC News reported that some of the possible noncitizens may have been due to individuals’ errors when registering to vote. Youngkin’s announcement sparked praise from former President Donald Trump, who wrote in a Truth Social post that the governor is “taking a strong lead in securing the election in November.”