Is it a crime to register to vote when ineligible? Texas AG ‘leaves out’ info in warning
.jpg "Cornell Woolridge a volunteer voter registrar for Texas Freedom Network registers a new voter outside of the County Administration building on August 13, 2024. Woolridge and other voter registrars across the county have been removed from inside county faculties")
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is reminding Texans that it is a crime to register to vote when you’re ineligible to cast a ballot on Election Day. That’s true, but his warning leaves out a key distinction.
On Sept. 13, Paxton sent an advisory on the mass mailing of voter registration applications. An array of cities and counties are mailing voter registration applications to Texans, and just because you get one in the mail, doesn’t mean you’re eligible to register to vote, Paxton said.
“Registering to vote if you are ineligible, including if you are a noncitizen, is a crime,” the advisory reads. “Do not let an invitation to register to vote lead you to break the law.”
It is a crime to register to vote if certain eligibility requirements aren’t met, said Matthew Wilson, a SMU political science professor. But groups that advocate for voting rights note that there’s a knowledge requirement on the part of the person registering that Paxton doesn’t mention.
“What the Attorney General leaves out is that a person must knowingly or intentionally lie about their eligibility to vote for it to be a crime,” Texas Civil Rights Project Staff Attorney Veronikah Warms said in a statement.
Paxton’s statement is “at best misleading” and seems to be intended to “chill voters from exercising their right to vote,” said ACLU of Texas attorney Ashley Harris.
What does Texas law say?
According to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office, to be eligible to register to vote in Texas a person must:
- Be a U.S. citizen.
- Be a resident of the county where they’re registering.
- Be 18 years old. (A person can register when they’re 17 years and 10 months old.)
- Not be a convicted felon. (Unless the registrant has completed their sentence, including probation and parole.)
- Not have been declared mentally incapacitated by a court of law.
Paxton cites four parts of Texas law to support his warning that registering to vote despite ineligibility is a crime.
One law cited involves tampering with government records. State law says it’s a crime to make, present or use “any record, document, or thing with knowledge of its falsity and with intent that it be taken as a genuine governmental record.” Another related to illegal voting says it’s a crime for a person to “knowingly or intentionally” vote or attempt to vote in an election where the person knows they are not eligible to vote.
The other parts of law cited by Paxton in his advisory define the penalty for a state jail felony and a second degree felony.
Paxton’s office did not return multiple requests for comment.
Voter registration applications in Texas include a section where registrants must attest that:
I understand that giving false information to procure a voter registration is perjury, and a crime under state and federal law. Conviction of this crime may result in imprisonment up to one year in jail, a fine up to $4,000, or both.
And that:
- I am a resident of this county and a U.S. Citizen;
- I have not been finally convicted of a felony, or if a felon, I have completed all of my punishment including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or I have been pardoned; and
- I have not been determined by a final judgment of a court exercising probate jurisdiction to be totally mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote.
Registrants must also confirm on the form that they will be 18 on or before Election Day.
Paper applications that can be picked up at many libraries, post offices and DPS offices list the qualifications to register to vote in Texas. An online registration form on the Texas Secretary of State’s website has voters confirm they meet the age and residency requirements before taking them to the application that can be filled out, printed and mailed.
‘Knowingly or intentionally’
So how to interpret the law?
If you meet all of the qualifications and you’re not a registered voter elsewhere, then you’re eligible to register to vote.
“If you seek to register despite that — that is, knowing that you are ineligible — then that in essence, constitutes fraud, and that is a criminal offense,” said Wilson, the SMU professor.
The “knowing” part is important, according to the Texas Civil Rights Project and the ACLU of Texas, two groups that work to protect voting rights. It’s also where things can get hazy, said Wilson.
Both the illegal voting law and record tampering law state that the offenses must be done with knowledge and/or intent for a crime to have been committed. To constitute a crime, it’s not enough that the registrant simply know the eligibility requirements. The registrant must also know that they, themself, are not eligible to register, said Harris with the ACLU of Texas.
The law is not written to criminalize innocent mistakes or misunderstandings, she said.
“As long as people don’t knowingly or intentionally make false statements on a registration form, they are not violating any laws,” Harris said.
But Wilson said “ignorance is not an absolute defense against criminality,” though typically a person who makes an honest mistake would not be criminally prosecuted. Instead, the voter registration attempt would be rejected or rescinded, which is what should happen, he said.
If particular instances alleged voter registration fraud are prosecuted, questions of knowledge and ignorance — what the person knew or didn’t know about the law — may be determined in a trial, Wilson said.
A similar question has come up in a years-long court battle involving Crystal Mason, who is accused of illegal voting in Tarrant County. Her case involves the casting of a provisional ballot in 2016 that ultimately wasn’t counted. Mason’s degree of knowledge that she was voting illegally has been central to the court proceedings. (Mason is represented by attorneys with the ACLU of Texas and Texas Civil Rights Project.)
Why the warning now?
Paxton’s Sept. 13 advisory follows his suing of Bexar and Travis counties over their partnerships with third party vendors to mail voter registration applications in mass, which Paxton says could invite voter fraud.
“I have already sued Bexar and Travis counties to stop their illegal funding of mass voter-registration application mail-outs to scores of residents who may be ineligible to vote,” the advisory reads. “I will pursue litigation against any Texas county that does the same.
A judge sided with Bexar county in a Monday ruling that Paxton quickly appealed. Travis County on Tuesday filed a lawsuit of its own in federal court, arguing that state officials are violating the National Voters Registration Act.
Paxton’s advisory singles out noncitizens as a being ineligible to register to vote.
“Here we see another example of the Attorney General’s Office using sleight of hand with the Texas Election Code to scare voters of color — specifically Latino voters,” said Warms, with the Texas Civil Rights Project, in a statement. “Voter registration applications are reviewed and verified by county election officials, which is why the number of non-citizens who have inadvertently been registered to vote is nearly non-existent.”
Examples of people registering to vote despite knowing they are ineligible are “vanishingly rare,” Wilson said.
“Most people are just trying to figure out and navigate the voter registration system and participate in elections and democracy, and as long as folks are not intentionally or knowingly making false statements in that process, then they are able to comfortably register and vote, ” Wilson said.
Not sure if you’re registered?
Voter registration status can be checked online on the Texas Secretary of State website.
Oct. 7 is the deadline to register to vote in Texas. Election Day is Nov. 5.
This story was originally published September 18, 2024 at 11:41 AM.
