A coalition of 16 state attorneys general, led by Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost, has formally called on Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to provide states with crucial voter registration information, especially concerning the citizenship status of registered voters. The group raised concerns about DHS’s lack of coordination with states to verify voter registration details, a responsibility they argue is critical ahead of national elections.
The letter from the coalition, sent on October 15, and reported on by the Center Square, emphasized the need for federal-state cooperation to ensure that only American citizens participate in elections. “Americans may differ about the best result in the upcoming election, but we trust that all Americans of goodwill should agree that the right to vote in American elections belongs to American citizens alone,” the letter states. “Federal law endows citizens with the exclusive right to say who governs them and obligates your office to coordinate with the States to protect the franchise by verifying the immigration status of any registered voter upon request.”
The appeal comes as several states, including Texas, have recently removed noncitizens from voter rolls. Texas authorities removed 6,500 noncitizens and are conducting an ongoing investigation into other potentially ineligible voters. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton recently contacted U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), seeking compliance with a request from the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) to verify the citizenship status of registered voters. Paxton also identified over 454,000 registered voters in Texas whose citizenship had never been verified.
The coalition’s letter focused on the obligation of DHS to collaborate with states in verifying voter registration information. They noted that recent responses from DHS have been delayed and inadequate, citing the agency’s refusal to grant access to the Person Centric Query Service database, which DHS deemed “not appropriate to verify voter registrants.” The attorneys general argue that the law mandates DHS to provide the necessary information to states to ensure election integrity.
“While it is a crime for noncitizens to register to vote, federal law has been construed by the courts to restrict states from requiring proof of citizenship as a prerequisite for registration,” stated AG Paxton. “Therefore, the federal government must comply with the law and provide the requested information in a timely manner to ensure the integrity of American elections.”
The signatories of the letter include attorneys general from Ohio, South Carolina, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
