From The Texas Tribune · Natalia Contreras · · 1m 50s
Texas voting charges meet flawed citizenship checks
Texas announced seven voting-related charges while clearing hundreds of flagged voters as U.S. citizens.
In brief
Texas announced seven voting-related charges while clearing hundreds of flagged voters as U.S. citizens. The case pairs a small number of alleged illegal votes with a voter-roll review that wrongly flagged hundreds of citizens. Originally reported by The Texas Tribune.
Seven people charged
State and federal officials announced charges against seven people accused of voting in federal elections while not eligible citizens. All the charges were in Tarrant County.
“State and federal officials on Tuesday announced charges against seven people”
Separate state referrals
The Texas Secretary of State's Office also referred 117 potential noncitizen voting cases to the attorney general for investigation. Those cases are not tied to one election.
“117 cases of potential noncitizen voting”
Multiple agencies involved
The cases came from work by the Texas attorney general, the U.S. attorney in North Texas, the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations. Six people were indicted, and one was charged by complaint.
Rejected ballots included
Carlos Salas Barrios was accused of voting in 2024, but his ballot was rejected. Celestin Katubadi also cast a provisional ballot that was later rejected.
“his ballot was ultimately rejected”
Other defendants named
Officials also charged Helen Mayen Adams, Khalwinder Singh Bhengura, Moises Anwar Arellano-Alba, and Rocio Thrasher with illegal voting in 2024 and false citizenship statements.
Tiny share of votes
Texas has more than 18 million registered voters, and more than 11 million ballots were cast in November 2024. Seven accused people are a very small share of that total.
“Seven people make up a tiny fraction of that number.”
Trump push forms backdrop
The charges landed as President Donald Trump's administration has put more attention and resources into noncitizen voting and voter fraud investigations.
Hundreds were citizens
Texas also said 578 voters flagged last year as potential noncitizens were actually U.S. citizens. Officials ordered counties to reinstate wrongly removed voters.
“confirm citizenship for 578 voters”
Database timing mattered
Of the cleared voters, 506 were flagged because passport details were added to the federal SAVE system only after Texas first checked the list.
“passport information was not added to the federal SAVE program until after Texas had initially checked its list”
At a glance
The case pairs a small number of alleged illegal votes with a voter-roll review that wrongly flagged hundreds of citizens.
