HOUSTON — With less than a month to go until the deadline to register to vote in Texas, Attorney General Ken Paxton continues to target the issue of voter registration while civil rights groups express concern over the potential impact of his efforts.
Paxton announced a new legal advisory about unsolicited voter registration applications people may receive in the mail or other forms.
“There is no issue more important to our political system than election security,” Paxton said. “Receiving a voter registration application does not necessarily mean you are eligible to vote. If you are ineligible and attempt to register anyway, you are committing a crime.”
But the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas told KHOU it's not so cut and dry.
"As long as people don't knowingly or intentionally make false statements on our voter registration form, they are not violating any laws," Ashley Harris, a staff attorney with ACLU Texas, said in an interview.
On top of that, the ACLU said the issue is exceedingly rare and alleged Paxton's actions are meant to have a chilling effect on potential voters.
"The attorney general's statements today are aimed at a non-existent problem," Harris said. "Instead, Paxton is once again wielding the threat of aggressive and unwarranted criminal prosecutions in an effort to make eligible voters afraid of voting."
Paxton has highlighted the issue of election security several times in the run-up to the November election. That includes directing raids on members and volunteers of the League of United Latin American Citizens – or LULAC – which he claims is part of an investigation into alleged election fraud. Paxton has also filed lawsuits against Bexar and Travis counties over voter registration efforts.
The latest warning from Paxton comes less than a month away from the Oct. 7 deadline for Texans to register to vote.
"I'm really excited but also nervous as it is crunch time and we're really trying to get folks registered to vote," Abby Triño, the executive director of Alief Votes, told KHOU.
Triño said the organization started in 2022 as a way to boost civic engagement in the southwest Houston neighborhood, particularly among young people. As October approaches, the group's efforts are ramping up.
"We're in the works of making sure there's voter registration drives around Alief ISD and in the Alief area," Triño said. "And then we also are getting ready for pushing out our get out to vote."
Similar efforts are underway across the city.
Denver Harbor Cares is another organization seeking to increase voter registration in their area.
"We're just trying to be a little bit more creative, other than your traditional door-to-door," Denver Harbor Cares president Carolyn Lopez said while explaining the group's efforts to find new ways to reach potential voters.
The group said it's organizing different events to boost engagement in the coming weeks.
"We have people that are still telling us their vote doesn't count, it doesn't matter, and we're trying to change that frame of mind," Lopez said.
National Voter Registration Day is Sept. 17.
More information on registering to vote can be found here.