FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 7, 2021 

Contact: Prudence Robertson, probertson@sbalist.org (240) 672-2828 

Voter Integrity Protects the Right of Every Texan to Vote in Free & Fair Elections

Washington, D.C. – After months of unprecedented obstruction from Texas Democrats, Governor Greg Abbott today signed landmark legislation to protect fair, transparent, and secure elections into law. Most importantly, the legislation includes voter I.D. protections standardizing I.D. requirements for ballots-by-mail and voting in person. Voting-by-mail in Texas has lacked the protections that voting in-person provides; ballots can get lost, signature validation can be subjective, and the ballot can be vulnerable to fraud, voter intimidation, or deception.

According to a July TPPF and Rasmussen poll, Texans overwhelmingly support voter I.D. and protections for mail-in ballots. In fact, more than 80% of Texans support requiring voters to show a valid I.D. before voting, with just 11% opposing the requirement. In addition, 67% of Texans support voter I.D. protections for mail-in ballots, while only 22% oppose them.

National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli praised the legislation, saying:

“We applaud Senator Hughes and Governor Abbott for championing this legislation, fighting tirelessly to see the bill forward and shepherding it through the legislative process in the face of unprecedented obstruction. Of course, we couldn’t be prouder of the thousands of Texas grassroots activists who stood tall in support of fair and secure elections voters can trust. Americans have the right to be confident that it is easy to vote and hard to cheat in our elections, and that is why ensuring voting is easy and accessible cannot come by eliminating voting safeguards. Asking all voters to show an I.D. to vote is simply commonsense.

“While basic voter integrity is now law in Texas, congressional Democrats want to nullify and override the new law in a radical, unconstitutional, and authoritarian federal takeover via H.R. 1 and H.R. 4. This legislation must be rejected.”

The Texas legislation would further ensure that voter lists are accurate and that registrars do their duty in maintaining them, prevent the sending of unsolicited mail in ballots, fight ballot trafficking and increase criminal penalties for this offense. Additionally, it ensures the disability provision allowed for voting-by-mail is not exploited by bad actors, more fairly allocates voting hours, and machines, and strengthens provisions relating to security in elections administration. A separate bill signed into law in June, HB 2283, prohibits private ideological groups, corporations, and big tech companies from funding local elections to selectively affect turnout.

Recent national polls show the majority of voters, including Black and Hispanic voters, as well as urban and independent voters, overwhelmingly support voter I.D. protections and want it to be easy to vote and hard to cheat.

The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between American Principles Project (APP) and the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), was organized to combat H.R. 1/S. 1 and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.

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