Texas' Acting Secretary of State David Whitley, whose search for non-citizens among the state's 16 million registered voters prompted three federal lawsuits and an eventual court settlement, submitted his resignation Monday, according to the Houston Chronicle.
"Working alongside the employees in the secretary of state's office, county election officials, and representatives of our #1 trading partner, Mexico, has been my distinct honor and privilege," Whitley's resignation letter to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott read, per the report. "And to have your trust in doing so goes beyond what I ever dreamed of as a kid growing up in a small South Texas community."
Whitley, nominated to the post in December by Gov. Abbott, was blocked by 12 Texas Democrats over the botched voter purge that listed 10,000 suspected non-citizens but included thousands of legal voters. His confirmation was due Monday, according to the Chronicle.
"Democrats were united in their concern about the actions that Mr. Whitley took and that hurt a lot of voters and naturalized citizens," Texas state Sen. José Rodríguez, D-El Paso, told the Chronicle.
A civil rights group sued to stop the voter purge and Texas now must fix its process to listing illegals voters before enacting the policy under the next Texas Secretary of State, who cannot be approved until after the 2020 elections, according to the report.
"It's a shame that DPS [Texas Department of Public Safety] didn't take all the responsibility for their failure from the beginning," Texas House Speaker Dennis Bonnen said Monday, per the Chronicle.
"For some reason, no one wanted to pay attention to that because we were too busy head-hunting the secretary of state."
© 2025 Newsmax. All rights reserved.