Letter on Foreign Nationals Being Allowed to Register to Vote

Dear Mr. Parsons:

This is in response to your letter of May 3, 1994, concerning foreign nationals being registered to vote.

The Texas Election Code, Section 13.051, requires the Department to provide every person applying for a driver license or identification certificate with an opportunity to become a registered voter.

During the issuance process, each person who is at least 18 years of age is asked if they would like to register to vote. An affirmative response will result in the printing of a voter registration application which will contain information from the driver license or identification certificate records applicable to the voter form. The person is then asked to verify the information and sign the document. In close proximity to where the signature is affixed, there is a statement in reference to being a United States citizen.

At the close of each business day, the applications accepted in our offices are forwarded to the voter registrar in the county in which the office is located. The registrar is responsible for reviewing each application to determine if the person meets the voter qualification requirements.

In conclusion, I think it is important to point out that our employees are not deputy registrars and are not responsible for determining if a person qualifies to become a registered voter. However, if it should be determined during the application process that a person is not eligible to register, the voter application will not be accepted.

Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

James R. Wilson

27MM4I17