Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation released new research on election protection efforts, a commanding dive into not only where Texas led on protecting elections during the 87th Legislature’s regular session, but also on the work that must be addressed during the July special session. The paper follows the Foundation’s extensive research regarding measures such as voter ID and increased verification measures for mail-in ballots, all of which have broad support from Texans.

“Election integrity and confidence in elections are key issues facing the state of Texas. Much good was accomplished during the 2021 regular legislative session, but much work remains to be done,” the paper read in part. “The purpose of this paper is to document the still-lingering vulnerabilities in the Texas Election Code and describe the legislative fixes that were proposed during the 2021 regular session that should be passed during the July 2021 special session.”

“Evidence suggests that our system of counting and collecting votes is not secure enough to protect every vote, which has been documented extensively prior to the 2020 election,” said Chad Ennis, senior fellow for TPPF’s Election Protection Project. “With the Texas Attorney General having successfully prosecuted more than 140 individuals and currently involved in more than 300 investigations of voter fraud, election reforms are more necessary now than ever before. By ensuring that only legal votes count and that each vote represents the true will of the voter who cast it, Texas can set the example for election protection for the entire nation.”

Key Points

  • Election security should not be controversial, and election security and integrity measures are not suppressive or racist.
  • Election integrity problems predated 2020. Evidence suggests our system is not secure enough to protect every vote.
  • Election integrity measures are popular and are supported by more than 80% of voters. Additionally, 60% of Americans said they lacked confidence in elections in 2019.
  • Election turnout has increased even among minority voters according to U.S. Census data, and 94% of voters say it is “very” or “somewhat” easy to vote.

View the full paper here: https://www.texaspolicy.com/election-integrity-case-studies-policy/