Voters want expanded voter access, enhanced accountability in Texas elections

The blue wave forecasted for Texas failed to come ashore last November, leaving Republicans with a firm hold on the Texas Legislature. It didn’t take me by surprise.

Election integrity was rightfully deemed an emergency item this legislative session, since voters see this as an important issue.

State and local leaders alike can be proud of the way elections are run in Texas. Overall, Texas voters see the Texas election system as well managed and do not believe significant voter fraud occurred in Texas. Eighty-six percent of Texans believe the 2020 elections in Texas went well, and 97% reported a good personal experience voting, according to a statewide poll conducted on behalf of Secure Democracy.

We can and should do all we can to protect Texans’ freedom to vote. That’s why accessibility and accountability within Texas election systems receive such strong support among voters.

Seventy-three percent of all voters — and 58% of Republicans — support extending early voting by one week. And regardless of party, voters (84% of all voters and 80% of Republican voters) want more polling locations.

By making elections more accountable and transparent, voters’ confidence in our elections will only improve.

Texas voters are ready to increase the election system's accountability and support regular voter roll audits and an auditable tracking system for mail-in ballots and electronic voting machines. It’s rare to see approval for policy proposals tick up between 75% to 91% across Republicans, Democrats and independents, but that’s exactly what we see now among Texans.

At a time when our nation remains extremely polarized, strong majorities of Republicans, Democrats and independents want policies that improve voter access and bolster election integrity. Republicans are winning in Texans and making gains among diverse demographics, as last fall’s election has shown. Texas Republicans are winning by attracting new voters and registering more voters.

Texans overwhelmingly (81%) support ensuring that voters who need it have the proper assistance in returning their ballots. They also believe that voters should be able to receive the assistance they need without their helpers being threatened with felony charges (62% said no to felony charge and 73% said no to felony charge for assisting more than 3 voters).

Texas voters also want to allow the Secretary of State to set statewide election standards to avoid confusion and mismanagement of election laws by local governments, with 72% support.

Texas Republicans have shown time and again they can recruit competitive candidates and turn out the voters better than anyone. As long as Texas elections are grounded in accountability and transparency, voters are strongly on board with making it easier to cast a ballot before and on Election Day.

About the poll

Commissioned by Secure Democracy, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that works to improve election integrity across the United States, the Ragnar Research Partners poll of 1,002 Likely Voters across Texas was conducted, March 7 through March 9, 2021, via live callers to landlines and cellphones and has a margin of error of +/-3 percentage points.

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Secure Democracy supports election integrity measures that strengthen Americans' freedom to vote. Learn more at www.secure-democracy.org.