March 28, 2019

Castro Statement on House Investigation into Texas Voter Purge

WASHINGTON—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), Chairman of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Vice Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and a member of the House Intelligence Committee and House Education and Labor Committee, today made the following statement on the House Oversight Committee’s investigation into voter irregularities in multiple states—including Texas—during the 2018 election:

“We cannot allow Texas’ state leadership to exclude thousands of individuals from our democratic process and specifically disenfranchise Latinos and other naturalized citizens—a substantial group in Texas—from voting. That’s why I am glad to see House Oversight and Reform Chairman Elijah Cummings and Rep. Jamie Raskin push back against Governor Abbot, Acting Secretary of State Whitley, and Attorney General Paxton for their egregious actions. Removing thousands of American voters from Texas voting rolls and thus stifling their ability to vote is suppression at the highest levels and should be investigated as such.”

Background: In January, Acting Secretary of State David Whitley announced to county election officials that approximately 95,000 registered voters in Texas may not be U.S. citizens and advised officials to send notices to these individuals. If responses were not received within 30 days, county officials were to cancel their voter registration. Texas state officials also indicated that approximately 58,000 of these individuals voted in elections and have bene referred to Attorney General Ken Paxton for possible criminal persecution and voter fraud. In February, a federal judge issued a temporary injunction to stop counties from issue furthering notices to individuals.

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