{"id":2215448,"date":"2024-04-08T09:56:02","date_gmt":"2024-04-08T13:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-sos-pushes-back-against-widespread-disinformation-about-voter-registration\/"},"modified":"2024-04-08T10:01:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-08T14:01:22","slug":"texas-sos-pushes-back-against-widespread-disinformation-about-voter-registration","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/texas-sos-pushes-back-against-widespread-disinformation-about-voter-registration\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Secretary of State combats voter registration misinformation"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">16<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ftexas-sos-pushes-back-against-widespread-disinformation-about-voter-registration%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2215448&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Texas Secretary of\u2062 State and a voter registration expert have debunked misinformation circulating on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/lawyers-australia-wants-to-deport-novak-djokovic-fearing-he-may-excite-anti-vax-sentiment\/\" title=\"Lawyers: Australia Wants to Deport Novak Djokovic, Fearing He May 'Excite Anti-Vax Sentiment'\">social media claiming<\/a> a surge in voter registrations without photo IDs. They clarified that the increase in voter rolls is due \u2064to standard procedures requiring verification such\u200b as driver&#8217;s license\u200d or Social Security\u200d numbers. Additionally, the current voter registration numbers align with previous years&#8217; trends.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>(The Center Square) \u2013 The Secretary of State and a voter registration expert in Texas have refuted widespread disinformation spread by YouTubers and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/nikki-haley-accused-of-flip-flop-after-backlash-on-internet-censorship-policy\/\" title=\"Nikki Haley faces 'flip-flop' accusation over internet censorship stance.\">anonymous social media accounts<\/a> this week.<\/p>\n<p>An anonymous account on X, formerly known as Twitter, claimed, \u201cthe number of voters registering without a photo ID is skyrocketing in three key swing states: Arizona, Texas and Pennsylvania.\u201d It also claimed that since January 2024, over 1.2 million people registered to vote in Texas without photo IDs.<\/p>\n<p>Individuals unaffiliated with any organization posted videos from what appears to be their bedrooms or their front porches on TikTok, X and other social media channels claiming over 227,000, people registered to vote in Texas without an ID. One claimed, \u201cBreaking News: you can both register to vote and vote in Texas without an ID\u201d and that 277,000 new voters registered without an ID in Texas in one week.<\/p>\n<p>Responding to the misinformation, Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson issued a statement, saying, \u201cIt 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).\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She is referring to a net increase from January to March prior to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/pompeo-bastes-oz-over-turkey-ties\/\" title=\"Pompeo Bastes Oz Over Turkey Ties\">primary election held<\/a> on March 5.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen 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,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n<p>Among other information, the SOS online voter registration application requires an individual to state that they are a U.S. citizen, confirm they are 18 years old, provide their Texas driver\u2019s license number or Texas personal ID, the last four numbers of their Social Security number, their residential address, and agree to a perjury statement. The statement says giving false information to procure a voter registration is perjury and a crime under state and federal law, which can result in a penalty of one year in jail or a fine of up to $4,000, or both.<\/p>\n<p>The form requires affirmation of citizenship, county residency, that the applicant hasn\u2019t been convicted of a felony and hasn\u2019t been determined by a court to be mentally incapacitated.<\/p>\n<p>The Texas election code, established by the Texas legislature, stipulates that seven forms of photo ID are acceptable and must be presented when voting in person.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile federal law allows individuals to register to vote without a photo ID, Texans must actually show proof of ID to vote,\u201d Nelson said. She also explains that the 1.2 million total from the Social Security Administration\u2019s website relates to the number of times states ask to verify an individual\u2019s social security number.<\/p>\n<p>Derek Ryan, a political consultant with Austin-based Ryan Data Research, who maintains voter registration rolls, also pushed back on the claims. He criticized those repeating \u201cthis VERY fake narrative\u201d \u2026 \u201cas a scare tactic\u201d \u2026 \u201cto undermine our electoral process. \u2026 You aren\u2019t helping actual election integrity efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The claim that 227,000 people registered to vote without an ID in one week was \u201cfalse,\u201d he said, and posted official SOS data showing the number who registered to vote in February and March totaled 234,552.<\/p>\n<p>He told The Center Square, \u201cIt\u2019s worth noting that the file decreases because of people who have been removed from the rolls because they have moved out of state, died, or been sent to prison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Data can also be misinterpreted because it may represent net additions or subtractions, only new registrations, or something else, he explained. For example, the Social Security Administration data doesn\u2019t represent people who registered to vote without an ID or are new registrants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe numbers are the times their office [SOS] has attempted to verify that a [Social Security number] on their files is accurate\/valid and that the person is still alive. In other words, instead of potential fraud, it\u2019s actually the exact opposite. It\u2019s cleaning up of the rolls,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He also noted that Nelson\u2019s total \u201cdoesn\u2019t include people who have registered to vote since the March Primary.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her net total includes \u201cpeople who moved from one county to another and registered to vote in a new county who were already counted but are still technically new registrants.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile there is a net increase of 57,711, there are actually more new registrants who replaced people who dropped off the rolls.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ryan told The Center Square \u201cthe disinformation is a huge concern\u201d because Americans in both parties are repeatedly questioning election results. \u201cEach time someone puts out information that is wrong, it builds more and more distrust in our electoral system,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>According to the Secretary of State\u2019s website, the total number of registered voters in Texas was over 17.9 million in November 2023.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Texas Secretary of State and a voter registration expert dismiss disinformation from YouTubers and anonymous online sources. A post on X alleged a surge in voter registrations without photo IDs in key swing states, but officials refute these claims<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2215449,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24055508586520-1024x591.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2215448","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/wex-s3.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/AP24055508586520-1024x591.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215448","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2215448"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2215448\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2215449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2215448"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2215448"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2215448"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}