The Texas offense of Illegal Voting gives police the right to arrest you if they believe you voted when you weren’t supposed to vote or if you committed one of the other enumerated voting-related offenses.

This law was enhanced to a felony in 2023 as a result of baseless politically-generated conspiracy theories about widespread illegal voting.

Learn more about the Illegal Voting offense below.

What is the current Texas law about Illegal Voting?

The current Texas law defines the offense of Illegal Voting in Election Code Section §64.012 as follows:^[1]

(a) A person commits an offense if the person knowingly or intentionally:

(1) votes or attempts to vote in an election in which the person knows the person is not eligible to vote;

(2) votes or attempts to vote more than once in an election;

(3) votes or attempts to vote a ballot belonging to another person, or by impersonating another person;

(4) marks or attempts to mark any portion of another person’s ballot without the consent of that person, or without specific direction from that person how to mark the ballot; or

(5) votes or attempts to vote in an election in this state after voting in another state in an election in which a federal office appears on the ballot and the election day for both states is the same day.

This offense was enhanced to a felony by the 88th Texas Legislature in 2023,^[2] effective September 1, 2023.^[3]

How can I be charged with Illegal Voting?

You can be charged with Illegal Voting if the state’s attorneys believe that each of the elements of 64.012 as described in the section above have been met.

What is the punishment for Illegal Voting?

Illegal Voting is punished as a second degree felony, unless the offense was only “attempted” – in which case the offense level is a state jail felony.^[4]

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Legal References:

^1. Texas Election Code §64.012^2. HB 1243, 88th Texas Legislature (RS), Section 1^3. HB 1243, 88th Texas Legislature (RS), Section 3^4. Texas Elections Code §64.012(b)