Texas can require people applying to vote by mail to submit identification numbers that match state records, a federal appeals court ruled Monday.
A three-judge panel found the ID match system is a valid way to prevent fraud and confirmed that it does not violate the Civil Rights Act. The court said the law is “obviously designed to confirm that every mail-in voter is indeed who he claims he is.”
Judge James Ho wrote the opinion, reversing a lower court decision from November 2023 that had struck down the number match requirement.
The ID requirement is part of S.B. 1, a wide-ranging election law passed by Texas Republicans in 2021 in the wake of the 2020 election.
🚨 BREAKING: US Appeals Court has just OVERRULED an activist judge’s blocking of Texas law requiring voter ID for mail-in votes – to prevent voter fraud.
HUGE VICTORY. AG Ken Paxton was defending the law.
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh)
Democrats and activists claim the law unfairly blocks eligible voters from casting ballots.
