Voters overwhelmingly support election laws that allow easier access to voting, like early voting and increasing the number of drop boxes, according to July polling.
As states nationwide move to clean up voter rolls and tighten security measures ahead of the 2022 midterms, voters say they want to make it easier to vote, not harder, a July Gallup survey shows. The poll surveyed 1,013 US adults from July 5-26 with a margin of error of +/- 4%.
Almost 80% of Americans support early voting, which allows all voters the opportunity to cast their ballot before Election Day, according to the poll. (RELATED: Mail Voting Law Is Illegal Under Delaware Constitution, Court Rules)
Sixty-five percent of the respondents favor enacting automatic voter registration when a qualifying adult does business with the Department of Motor Vehicles or other state agencies, Gallup reported. Sixty percent want absentee ballot applications to be sent to all eligible voters.
Seventy-nine percent of Americans support voter ID laws that require all voters to provide photo identification to be allowed to vote, Gallup reported. Only 39% of US adults back removing people from voter registration lists if they haven’t voted in any elections in the past five years, Gallup reported.
Additionally, almost 60% of Americans oppose limiting the number of drop boxes or locations for returning absentee ballots, the survey showed.
Voters are concerned with election integrity heading into the 2022 midterms, according to Rasmussen Reports. Among likely US voters, 84% believe election integrity will be a critical issue in the midterm elections, the poll showed. Only 13% don’t see it as an important issue, Rasmussen reported.
Governors across the country are signing election integrity laws. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed voter integrity legislation, SB-1, into law in September 2021. Abbott said the law would make “it easier than ever before for anybody to go cast a ballot,” but “harder for people to cheat at the ballot box in Texas.” The law created a voter ID requirement for mail-in and absentee ballots and banned drive-through and round-the-clock voting that was popular in large Texas counties, like Harris County, during the pandemic, according to The Texas Tribune.