WHEREAS, it is a primary function of government to protect each eligible citizen’s right to vote and to take every possible action to protect the integrity and security of Texas elections; and

WHEREAS, on February 22, 2018, at the Texas Senate Select Committee on Election Security hearing, 229th Judicial District Attorney Omar Escobar confirmed that “non-citizens are voting in Starr County, the only question is how many”; and

WHEREAS, Dallas ABC television station WFAA on August 22, 2018 reported that the voter registrations of 444 voters from just two of Texas’ 254 counties were cancelled by the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) in 2017 because those voters self-identified as non-citizens in order to be excused from jury duty; and

WHEREAS, as a matter of current practice, the SOS goes through a “Live Check” by searching the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) database, which omits a search for Citizenship Status though the necessary documented data is available; now

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the State Republican Executive Committee calls on Governor Greg Abbott, who has a strong record of cracking down on illegal voting and supporting election integrity reform, to mandate that the SOS perform a “Live Check” DPS database query for citizenship information both on all new registrations and on those individuals already on the voter rolls; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, the State Republican Executive Committee calls upon Governor Abbott to declare election integrity an emergency item and release a public plan to ensure integrity in the November Election, and also calls upon the Office of the Attorney General to release the data and to enforce existing election laws so that Texans have confidence that our votes are legally counted.

Respectfully submitted,

Resolutions Committee