A claim circulating in conservative circles following Democrats’ sweeping victories in Texas’ midterm elections is using federal voter registration data to cast doubt on the results. But the report being cited doesn’t show evidence of widespread voter fraud.
Social media posts claim Texas processed nearly 2.9 million new voter registrations between 2022 and 2024 without requiring proof of U.S. citizenship. The figure has been shared by conservative social media accounts with millions of followers and has spread to online discussion forums, with some using it to question last week’s election results.
President Donald Trump has also amplified doubts about the election, sharing a social media post Saturday questioning the number of votes Democrat Gina Hinojosa received in the governor’s race. On Monday, he went further, writing: “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???”
But while the 2.9 million figure is accurate, the way it’s being presented is misleading.
The number comes from the U.S. Election Assistance Commission’s 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey, a federal report published in 2025 that examines how states administer elections.
The report doesn’t say 2.9 million ineligible people registered to vote, nor does it establish that those registrations were fraudulent.
The claims have gained attention following Tuesday’s election, when Democrats won several major statewide races for the first time in more than three decades, including the contests for governor, U.S. Senate and lieutenant governor.
What does the federal report actually say?
According to the 2024 Election Administration and Voting Survey, Texas processed about 5.1 million voter registration transactions between the 2022 and 2024 elections.
Of those, about 2.9 million were classified as “new valid registrations.” But that doesn’t necessarily mean that many people registered to vote for the first time. The figure can also include people who moved to Texas from another state or between counties within Texas.
Notably, during that same period, Texas removed nearly 1.8 million voter registration records from its rolls. Such removals can occur when voters move, die or become ineligible to vote.
The report also shows Texas processed more than 2.1 million updates to existing registrations.
Overall, state data shows that Texas had about 17.7 million total registered voters in 2022, with 18.6 million in 2024 — a net increase of roughly 952,000, far less than the 2.9 million new registrations being cited online.
Does Texas require proof of citizenship to register?
Under state law, Texans generally aren’t required to provide documentary proof of U.S. citizenship when registering to vote.
Applicants must affirm that they’re U.S. citizens and provide identifying information, such as a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number, if they have one. Providing false information can result in criminal penalties.
The state also checks government records to identify people who may not be eligible to vote.
In October 2025, the Texas Secretary of State’s Office checked more than 18 million registered voters against a federal database known as SAVE, which is used to verify citizenship and immigration status.
That review initially flagged about 2,700 people as possible noncitizens — less than 0.02% of the voters checked.
But further reviews confirmed that hundreds of those people were U.S. citizens. The state referred 117 cases to the Texas Attorney General’s Office for further investigation.
Those referrals don’t mean the individuals committed voter fraud. And the state hasn’t publicly accounted for the final status of every voter initially flagged. The secretary of state’s office and the attorney general’s office didn’t immediately respond to questions about the status of the review on Monday.
Why is this coming up now?
The claim has gained attention following a historic election for Texas Democrats.
Gina Hinojosa defeated Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, while James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the U.S. Senate race. Democrats also won several other statewide offices, ending a losing streak that lasted more than three decades.
Similar claims about Texas voter registrations have circulated before. In 2024, another viral claim alleged that more than 1.2 million people had registered to vote in Texas without photo identification in just a few months. That claim misrepresented federal identity-verification data.
Some conservatives have since questioned the 2026 results, pointing to federal voter registration figures as a possible sign of problems with the election. But the data that’s currently being circulated is from 2022 to 2024, not this year’s election.
Those registrations were recorded before the 2024 presidential election, when Republican Donald Trump won Texas by a wide margin. The federal report doesn’t examine the 2026 election or provide evidence that illegal votes affected the results.
While the report provides information about how many voter registrations Texas processed, it doesn’t support claims that millions of people registered illegally or that widespread voter fraud explains Democrats’ victories.
Copyright 2026 KERA News