US voter eligibility and citizenship verification

Efforts to verify voter eligibility and citizenship status in the United States have intensified. Initially, scrutiny focused on state-level practices in California and Texas. In California, officials reported difficulty determining the number of noncitizens removed from voter rolls because the registration system lacks a specific cancellation reason for non-citizenship. In Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton led efforts to prosecute noncitizens for illegal voting, though reports indicated only three prosecutions had occurred and some investigations mistakenly targeted American citizens.

By September 2026, the situation expanded to include large-scale administrative actions and federal initiatives. In Texas, approximately 1.2 million voters were placed on suspense lists following failed mail-based address verifications, requiring them to confirm residency to maintain voting rights.

At the federal level, the administration moved to implement an executive order to compile state-by-state citizenship lists for voters over 18. Despite previous lower court blocks in 23 states and Washington, D.C., a Supreme Court stay allowed the project to proceed. The initiative directs U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and the Social Security Administration to generate these lists for state officials, while the U.S. Attorney General is tasked with prioritizing investigations into officials who issue federal ballots to ineligible voters.