Nearly nine-in-10 call voter photo ID ‘common sense,’ most back limits on mail-in ballots

A backlash is growing against a liberal voting reform package sweeping through Congress that would ease rules requiring voters to provide identification and expand mail-in balloting.

For the second time this week, a poll has revealed that huge majorities oppose elements of the House and Senate versions of “For the People Act,” H.R. 1 in the House and S. 1 in the Senate.

In a new FreedomWorks/Scott Rasmussen survey provided exclusively to Secrets, 85% of registered voters said it is common sense to require photo identification to get a ballot. A previous survey from the unaffiliated Rasmussen Reports found 75% back photo ID.

But even more, 72% told FreedomWorks that photo ID laws boost their confidence in elections, and 52% believe it would reduce fraud.

The new legislation, supported only by Democrats when it passed the House recently, would let voters in states that require a photo ID to vote to present a sworn statement confirming their identity. Republicans believe that opens the door to fraud, and Democrats said it would reduce discrimination.

In the new survey, voters also rejected many of the liberal mail-in ballot elements of H.R. 1 and S.1, notably mass ballot mail-outs and a provision to count ballots 10 days after Election Day.

For example, 73% said ballots should arrive at election offices by Election Day. Some 63% said ballots should be mailed only to those who request them, not every state voter.

The survey also showed that many remain either unclear or unaware of the legislation that was swiftly pushed through the House and that critics fear could layer federal rules on elections that states run.

“The more the people learn out about H.R.1, the more they strongly oppose it. Democrats have the nerve to say that their election overhaul bill is ‘for the people,’ but if this polling tells us anything, it’s that this bill wasn’t written with much input from the people at all,” said FreedomWorks President Adam Brandon.

Pollster Scott Rasmussen added, “America’s system of voting and elections is facing a serious credibility crisis: most voters, from across the political spectrum, trust the process only when their team wins. Legislation recently passed by the House of Representatives would make the situation even worse. By preventing states from requiring photo ID, H.R. 1 brazenly ignores the reality that 85% of voters consider such a requirement to be commonsense reform. Even more, it ignores the fact that most voters believe banning such requirements would increase fraud and decrease confidence in elections.”

FreedomWorks is a Washington-based grassroots advocacy group for less government and fewer taxes.

Rather than liberalizing voting, the poll showed that the public has a much more conservative view and wants rules tightened following an election in which the coronavirus crisis led to widespread mail-in voting and resulted in cries of fraud from former President Donald Trump.

In another example of voter concerns about the process, 80% believe that voter rolls should be cleaned of absent voters, such as those who have moved or died, before every election.

And when told the legislation would overrule state photo ID laws, 53% said they would oppose the legislation.

“Given the vital importance of restoring confidence in U.S. elections, every effort should be made to ensure that voters understand what H.R. 1 would do to the American election process. This should include a careful and thoughtful debate in the U.S. Senate rather than rushing to pass legislation before the American people learn what’s in it,” Rasmussen said.

Brandon added, “Americans from both political parties have been hard-pressed to trust the results of the past two elections. We need to come together and agree on a forward-looking path to strengthen election integrity and security. H.R. 1, unfortunately, ignores much of the established consensus agreed upon by American voters.”

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Graphic courtesy FreedomWorks