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EXCLUSIVE: A week until Election Day, voters demand tighter security at the polls: New poll shows more than 8 in 10 Americans support photo ID laws and the majority want more barriers when voting by mail
- DailyMail.com obtained the exclusive poll, conducted in late October by CRC Research and the 85 Fund
- It shows that Americans of all races are in favor of photo ID for in-person voting
- Critics of adopting tougher voter ID requirements say they aim to disenfranchise voters of color and low-income Americans
- Voter ID measures are on the ballot in Arizona and Nebraska on Nov. 8
- A total of eight states have election security policies that must be voted on in the midterm elections
- The poll also finds that a majority believes mail ballots should be submitted only on request, unlike the eight states that send them to all registered voters.
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A majority of Americans are in favor of implementing stronger voter identification policies, a new poll suggests just a week before Election Day.
According to the survey by CRC Research and the 85 Fund, at least three-quarters of white, black, Hispanic and Asian Americans agreed that some form of photo identification should be mandatory in order to cast a vote.
The results of the poll are obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com.
Improving electoral security will be a focus of the vote in eight states on Nov. 8. Those measures include voter identity requirements in Nebraska and Arizona.
As of now, 21 states require photo ID to vote in person, and 14 require at least no photo ID.
Opponents of stricter voter identification measures argue that certain requirements, such as government-issued ID or proof of address, place an unnecessary burden on citizens and disproportionately affect communities of color and low-income Americans. income.
Supporters say it’s a reasonable step toward increasing voter confidence in the US election, which other surveys have shown are at record lows.
According to Tuesday’s poll, requiring photo ID to vote is supported by 75 percent of black Americans, 81 percent of Hispanic Americans and 88 percent of voters who identified as Asian-American.
The survey polled 1,600 likely voters between October 20 and October 23
Broken down by race, Asian Americans were among the strongest proponents of photo ID to vote — though sentiment was high among all groups
Eighty-five percent of respondents who chose their race as “other” agreed, as did 85 percent of whites.
According to the survey, U.S. voters also want more barriers to postal voting — which has been the subject of partisan scrutiny since its unprecedented widespread use during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the 2020 presidential election was held.
“The numbers are always clear: Americans are generally in favor of common-sense voting safeguards, such as photo ID and clear laws that keep Election Day from becoming election season,” said Jason Snead, executive director of the Honest Elections Project.
“Voters want ballots to be protected, especially vulnerable mail ballots, and they want fast and accurate election results.”
Eighty-five percent of people who answered the survey said they believed the ballots should be received before Election Day, including 61 percent who said they “strongly” agreed with the sentiment.
A decisive majority also said all ballots should be in before Election Day, although it’s unclear whether that’s the cause of standard postal delays.
Currently, there are eight states that automatically mail-in ballots to all registered voters
Only 11 percent somewhat or strongly disagreed, while 4 percent were unsure.
When asked whether voters should request a ballot to vote by mail rather than automatically get one, 68 percent said they were in favor, compared with a quarter of those who disagreed.
Currently, eight states automatically send all registered residents a ballot for voting by mail, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures: California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington.
Snead said in the statement shared with DailyMail.com: “No electoral system is perfect, but many conservative states have enacted electoral reforms that have made it easier to vote and harder to cheat. As this poll shows us, that’s exactly what Americans want.’
The poll, conducted between October 20 and 23, examined 1,600 likely US voters. The margin of error is 2.45 percent.
Early voting records have already been shattered in some parts of the country as Election Day is exactly a week away