The U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Texas says his office is investigating possible illegal voting tied to past elections.
U.S. Attorney Justin Simmons told KSAT that his office has a “handful” of investigations underway. He did not provide an exact number of investigations, charges or convictions, and said he does not know the total number of possible illegal voting incidents across the district or statewide.
Simmons said the cases his office is prosecuting do not involve the current election cycle.
“Most of these that we’re prosecuting right now are 2024, 2022, and so on, further back,” Simmons said.
Simmons announced two recent alleged illegal voting cases last month that are connected to the November 2024 election.
In a news release, Simmons said Monica Ivette Carzoli Carillo, 46, of Del Rio, was charged with voting by a noncitizen and a separate federal offense.
Carzoli Carillo, a lawful permanent resident since December 2023, allegedly cast an early-voting ballot on Oct. 26, 2024, according to the release.
Additionally, Simmons announced Imelda Magallanes, 51, of Midland, was charged with voting by a noncitizen in a federal election. Magallanes had a lawful permanent resident status in December 2010 and renewed it again in 2023, according to the release.
Prosecutors allege Magallanes registered to vote in October 2020 and voted in November 2024.
Simmons said investigators typically compare immigration records with voter-registration records, and may conduct interviews before deciding whether to file charges.
“The voter fraud really comes into somebody registering to vote and representing that they’re a U.S. citizen when in reality they are not, and then maybe going to vote after that,” Simmons said.
He said Homeland Security Investigations is among the agencies his office works with in those cases.
Simmons’ comments come as Texas continues its own review of voter-registration records. The Texas Secretary of State said an analysis found 2,724 potential noncitizen registrations.
The state referred 117 cases to the Texas attorney general for investigation of potential noncitizen voting.
Simmons said the enforcement should not deter eligible voters from participating.
“No U.S. Citizen should be afraid of voting and exercising their right to vote,” Simmons told KSAT. “We’re not here to suppress anybody’s vote. If you’re a U.S. citizen, we want you to vote, we encourage you to go.”
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