Some of the suppression arguments regarding SB 7, which cleared the Texas Senate earlier this month, center on a provision that tightens voter ID requirements given the unprecedented reliance on mail-in ballots during the pandemic.
It’s “a system to track mail-in ballots combined with a requirement for additional ID that brings in-person voting safeguards to voting by mail,” wrote Chuck DeVore, vice president of national initiatives at TPPF, in March.
It’s also an election safeguard, along with others, that voters support, polling shows.
A Rasmussen poll released April 12 shows that only 25% people agree with the argument that requiring voter ID is a form of suppression, while 66% of respondents believe the requirements are a “reasonable step to improve confidence in elections.”
Polling by the Honest Elections Project, moreover, shows that most voters (64%) want to strengthen voting safeguards to prevent fraud, rather than eliminate them to make voting “easier.”
“Fifty-one percent of black voters and 66% of Hispanics agree, as do 59% of urban voters and 61% of independents,” the group said in a recent memo to Congress. “Only 21% want to make voting ‘easier’ by getting rid of the precautionary measures that prevent fraud.”
A poll by TPPF shows that “Texans overwhelmingly believe mail-in ballots should have the same standard for voter identification as in-person voting.”
And a recent Associated Press poll found that voter ID requirements are supported by 72% of the public.
From 2012 to 2020, mail-in ballot use in Texas grew from 204,000 to about 1 million, a quintupling of mailed votes.
“This suggests Texas is moving from an excuse-required to vote by mail state to a de facto vote-by-mail state, all without a change in the state’s election code,” TPPF’s DeVore wrote. “Why does this matter? Because voting by mail isn’t as secure as voting in person. As a result, it’s the preferred method by those who seek to steal elections through fraud.”
According to Ballotpedia, Texas requires a form of photo ID when voting in person. There are several options of ID available, including a state issued driver’s license, a handgun license, or a passport.
