Texas’ Illegal Voter Purge Challenged by Lawsuit from Voting Rights Advocates
AUSTIN, Texas — On March 26, 2026, Campaign Legal Center (CLC) — on behalf of the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Texas LULAC, LULAC Council 102, and Common Cause, as well as LULAC and Common Cause members — filed a lawsuit to stop an illegal voter purge program in Texas.
The state used the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services’ (USCIS) Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) system to conduct this purge in a discriminatory and non-uniform way in violation of the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). Texas’ use of this system, without any investigation or further checks into even the state’s own records that could confirm these voters’ citizenship, puts voters at risk of being illegally purged from the voter rolls.
Danielle Lang, the vice president for voting rights and the rule of law at the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center, issued the following statement:
“Every American citizen should have the freedom to vote, including naturalized citizens.
“Recently naturalized citizens are disproportionately targeted in this unlawful program that Texas has implemented because the data that the state is relying on from SAVE is often outdated and may still mark them as noncitizens. Texas has instructed counties to remove people without any further check or investigation, even though the state itself has data showing that many of these voters are U.S. citizens.
“Our elections have numerous safeguards in place that are regularly analyzed and updated to make sure only U.S. citizens participate. The court must stop Texas from continuing this voter purge and ensure that all voters can make their voices heard at the ballot box this year.”
Juan Proaño, chief executive officer of LULAC, issued the following statement:
"Texas’ decision to rely blindly on stale and unreliable data, without even cross-checking it with their own, puts the voting rights of countless Texans at risk.
“These actions are not only discriminatory, but a clear violation of the National Voter Registration Act. To comply with the law and to better serve their citizens, we are calling for an immediate end to this illegal voter purge program.”
Maryam Jazini Dorcheh, senior director of litigation at Common Cause, issued the following statement:
“We will not allow unlawful voter purges to become the new norm for our elections. What happens in Texas will not stay in Texas if these discriminatory tactics are left unchecked. Across the country, we will continue to defend Americans' fundamental right to vote, whether through legislation or litigation.”
Anthony Gutierrez, Common Cause Texas executive director, issued the following statement:
“Every Texas voter deserves to cast a ballot without fear of being wrongly targeted or removed from the rolls. When naturalized citizens are singled out, it not only creates barriers, but puts people’s voices at risk, both of which threaten trust in our system. No one should have to fear discrimination when they show up to vote, not in Texas, not anywhere in the U.S.”
Background: On October 21, 2025, the office of Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson sent a mass email to voter registrars and elections administrators to notify them that their office had begun “sending voter records to counties as part of a continuing process for identifying and removing non-United States citizens from the State’s voter rolls.” The email stated that the process was being conducted in accordance with the “Secretary of State’s Memorandum of Understanding with United States Citizenship Services (USCIS)” to compare state voter registration lists with USCIS’ SAVE system.
Of particular concern is the fact that Secretary Nelson’s office failed to cross-check data obtained from the SAVE system against any other data including the state’s own citizenship data through the Department of Public Safety before putting voter registrations on the chopping block. In addition, each county is handling the voter purge differently, creating a non-uniform application of the purge throughout the state.
On January 15, 2026, Campaign Legal Center (CLC), on behalf of the League of Latin American Citizens (LULAC), Texas LULAC and LULAC Council 102, as well as their members, sent a notice letter to Secretary Nelson to notify her office of this violation. We filed this lawsuit after no attempt was made by Secretary Nelson’s office to remedy the violation.
Follow the latest updates via Campaign Legal Center’s case page.
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