Voting by mail has become increasingly popular in Texas, but it has serious shortcomings that make it vulnerable to fraud while putting legitimate ballots at risk.
Key points:
- Voting by mail has become increasingly popular in Texas. In 2006, less than 1% of votes were cast by mail, rising to just over 6% in 2020.
- Voting by mail lacks the protections that voting in person provides. The ballot can get lost, no voter identification is required, and the ballot is vulnerable to fraud, voter intimidation, or deception.
- Increased use of mail-in balloting will make voters more vulnerable to COVID-19 vs. voting in person as elections workers will go door to door to harvest ballots.
- All mail-in ballot elections take decades of preparation to be conducted safely and effectively but still rely on the U.S. Postal Service to do its job in a timely, accurate manner.