Full Breakdown
Ken Paxton’s Noncitizen Voting Probe Yields One Charge
8/18/2026, 12:55:40 AM
Core Event
An NBC News investigation, obtained through a public-records request, examined Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s six-year effort to prosecute alleged noncitizen voting. The probe identified 53 individuals referred to Paxton’s office for review of potential illegal ballots cast in the 2020, 2022, and 2024 elections. Only Ada Otuka was formally charged, marking the sole prosecution arising from the referral list. The investigation also noted that at least five of the referred individuals were U.S. citizens, and two other noncitizens previously prosecuted in Texas—Eliseo Morales-Tapia and Samuel Hall—were not on the list at all.
Data & Statistics
- Referral list obtained: 53 names.
- Formal charges from list: 1 (Ada Otuka).
- Citizens mistakenly included: >=5 (court records).
- Prior noncitizen prosecutions not on list: 2 (Morales-Tapia, Hall).
- Paxton’s 2019 claim: 58,000 noncitizens voted in Texas (refuted in court).
- Office announced investigations of >100 potential noncitizen voting cases spanning three election cycles.
Official Statements & Responses
The attorney-general’s office has not provided updates on the investigation and declined to comment to NBC News.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Illegal aliens and foreign nationals must not be allowed to influence Texas elections by casting illegal ballots with impunity. I will not allow it to continue. … If you're a noncitizen who illegally cast a ballot, you will face the full force of the law,” — General Ken Paxton, into texas attorney
- “All of this is about undermining people's belief in the integrity of elections and having a scapegoat,” — Rochelle Garza, president of the Texas Civil Rights Project
