Statement on Voter Registration ID Requirements

Austin — There have been recent and inaccurate reports about the voter registration process and ID requirements in Texas. Please see the statement from Secretary of State Jane Nelson below.

“It is totally inaccurate that 1.2 million voters have registered to vote in Texas without a photo ID this year. The truth is our voter rolls have increased by 57,711 voters since the beginning of 2024. This is less than the number of people registered in the same timeframe in 2022 (about 65,000) and in 2020 (about 104,000).

When Texans register to vote, they must provide a driver license number or a Social Security number. When an individual registers to vote with just a SSN, the state verifies that the SSN is authentic.

While federal law allows individuals to register to vote without a photo ID, Texans must actually show proof of ID to vote. The 1.2 million figure comes from the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) website, which is supposed to report the number of times states have asked to verify an individual’s social security number. The SSA number is clearly incorrect, and we are working now to determine why there is such a large discrepancy.”

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