Over 2,700 registered voters were identified using the Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE) database in Texas, but the system wrongly flagged some potential noncitizens. Texas residents reacted with anger to the development, with many arguing that Republicans were using such systems to “fraud” the election.
As reported by The Texas Tribune, Texas election officials instructed counties to immediately reinstate registered voters who were wrongly flagged as potential noncitizens after discovering that some had already provided proof of U.S. citizenship.
According to State Elections Director Christina Adkins, Texas is still determining how many people were affected. The goal is to find and reinstate voters who were wrongly removed without requiring them to take any action themselves. The incident also led officials to question the accuracy of the SAVE database, leaving the program’s future uncertain.
Texans React to Wrongly Flagged Voters
When discussing the case on Reddit’s r/Texas, users were skeptical of the SAVE database. One of them wrote: “Texas has spent millions of dollars searching for non-citizen voters, claimed there were tons, pretended to identify some, and maybe prosecuted a handful over multiple years.”
Another user slammed the Republican Party: “Just your daily reminder to check your registration. The GOP will use every dirty trick at their disposal to stay in power.” Someone else commented: “Lemme guess. All Democrats that get “mistakenly” deregistered.”
One user even shared a story about how systems such as this one allegedly targeted his wife: “They put my wife on suspense 3 times, claiming we don’t live in the only home we own (10 years) and pay taxes on. Apparently they used a government database showing we rented a P.O. Box as evidence we did not live at the address—which is also on our driver’s licenses. No telling whether her being a naturalized citizen or having an ethnic name had anything to do with it.”
This prompted another Texas resident to offer what they believed was an explanation for why these mistakes happen: “A big one is they use a name match system to blanket disqualify voters, and it turns out there are a lot of common names in immigrant communities.”
In any case, with the election approaching, Texas voters can always check their voter registration before Election Day to avoid any unpleasant surprises.
