TX Official: Give Ballots To People Who Show Noncitizen IDs

New guidance from Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson directs election workers to accept noncitizen driver’s licenses as voter identification, despite the fact that noncitizens are ineligible to vote in American elections.

Guidance issued Tuesday by Nelson’s office and initialed by Director of Elections Christina Adkins instructs poll workers to give a regular ballot to individuals who are on the voter rolls even if they present a limited-term driver’s license or ID card as their form of identification. The Texas Department of Public Safety issues “limited-term driver’s licenses” or identification cards to individuals who are legally residing in the state but are not citizens. The license and identification card are denoted by either “Temporary Visitor” or “Limited-Term.”

The guidance instructs election officials to “inform” the individual that the “identification presented suggests that the individual is not a United States citizen” and that it is illegal for noncitizens to vote.

After hearing such information, “If the individual does not have further questions or concerns and wishes to proceed to vote, the individual should be offered a regular ballot,” the guidance states.

There are approximately 2,824,613 noncitizens in Texas who have driver’s licenses, identification cards, or commercial driver’s licenses, according to Rep. Chip Roy. The Federalist reached out to the Texas Department of Safety for a further breakdown of the numbers but did not receive a response by publication time.

The guidance advises election workers to remember that “it is possible the individual became a naturalized United States citizen after the limited-term license or identification card was issued and has not updated his or her Texas driver’s license or identification card.” Even so, elsewhere in the document, Adkins acknowledges that the possession of a limited-term ID confirms that at least some point in the past or present the individual was a noncitizen and therefore ineligible to vote.

“Accordingly, our office has consistently made it clear that Texans should not use this type of license to participate in elections, even if it otherwise constitutes a valid form of ID,” the guidance says. While a training guide for the 2024 election cycle does not specifically say “limited-term” or “temporary visitor” identifications should not be used, the guide does link to a 2018 version that specifically says neither form of identification should be used as voter ID.

Those statements seem to be at odds with the practical instructions Adkins’ guidance provides to election workers. Tuesday’s memo also instructs election officials to give provisional ballots to individuals who do not appear on the list of registered voters and who present a noncitizen driver’s license as identification.

The Federalist inquired with the secretary of state’s office about the guidance and what steps the state takes to verify whether individuals who present a noncitizen ID are eligible to vote, but did not receive a response in time for publication.