Texas hands over complete list of registered voters to Trump administration

Source: Houston Public Media/NPR

Posted on January 9, 2026, 8:01 AM


Texas officials have turned over the state's voter roll to the U.S. Justice Department, according to a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State's Office, complying with the Trump administration's demands for access to data on millions of voters across the country.

The Justice Department last fall began asking all 50 states for their voter rolls — massive lists containing significant identifying information on every registered voter in each state — and other election-related data. The Justice Department has said the effort is central to its mission of enforcing election law requiring states to regularly maintain voter lists by searching for and removing ineligible voters.

Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State's Office, told Votebeat and The Texas Tribune that the state had sent its voter roll, which includes information on the approximately 18.4 million voters registered in Texas, to the Justice Department on Dec. 23. The state included identifiable information about voters, including dates of birth, driver's license numbers and the last four digits of their Social Security numbers, Pierce said.

Experts and state officials around the country have raised concerns over the legality of the Justice Department's effort to obtain states' voter rolls and whether it could compromise voter privacy protections. The Justice Department has said it is entitled to the data under federal law, and withholding it interferes with its ability to exercise oversight and enforce federal election laws.

Read more: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/voting/2026/01/09/540326/texas-voter-roll-trump-administration-justice-department-democrats-dnc/