Democrats Strongly Support Mail-In Voting While Republicans Oppose, Poll Shows

Voter ID requirement and paper ballot backups have highest support among Republicans, the survey found.

Voters use an optional paper ballot voting booth to cast their votes early before the May 3 primary at the Franklin County Board of Elections in Columbus, Ohio, on April 26, 2022. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

A solid majority of Americans support the use of voter ID and paper ballot backups as measures to ensure election integrity, yet they remain divided along party lines over the issue of voting by mail, according to a survey.

The Pew Research Center poll, released on Feb. 7, found that 84 percent of Democrats believe voting by mail should be available to all voters, while 28 percent of Republicans favor this requirement. On a national average, 57 percent of respondents support this proposal.

Democrats strongly favor automatic voter registration for all eligible citizens and election-day voter registration, with 79 percent and 76 percent support, respectively. In comparison, nearly four in ten Republicans support these measures.

In 2021, another Pew Research survey found that “Democrats are more likely to strongly favor proposals aimed at making it easier to vote; Republicans are more likely to strongly support requiring voters to show photo ID.”

Measures With Strong Bipartisan Support

The survey also found that most U.S. voters support paper ballot backups (82 percent), voter ID requirement (81 percent), early in-person voting (76 percent), making Election Day a national holiday (72 percent), and granting voting rights to convicted felons after completing their sentences (69 percent).

Voter ID requirements and paper ballot backups have the highest support among Republicans. The other three proposals receive higher support among Democrats.

Although a solid majority of Americans support voter ID, with 81 percent in favor, there is partisan division over the policy. Nearly all Republicans (95 percent) favor the measure, while 69 percent of Democrats support voter ID.

Americans are also divided over the policy of removing inactive records from voter registration lists: 60 percent of Republicans favor this policy, compared with 27 percent of Democrats.

Among racial and ethnic groups, black voters are more strongly supportive of early in-person voting (85 percent) and of granting voting rights to convicted felons after they finish their sentences (79 percent) than other groups are.

Shift in Public Opinion

The survey found that voters have changed their views in recent years, particularly regarding voting by mail; 57 percent of American adults now support voting by mail, compared with 70 percent four years ago. Among Republicans, only 28 percent support the policy, down from 49 percent in 2020, while Democrats’ views on this have remained unchanged since 2020.

For the photo ID requirement, Republican support remains unchanged at 95 percent, whereas Democrat support has increased to 69 percent, up from 61 percent last year.

Support among Americans for making election day a national holiday has increased from 65 percent in 2018 to 72 percent at present. In contrast, support for election-day voter registration has declined over recent years, dropping from 64 percent in 2018 to 57 percent today.

Election Integrity Concerns

Newly released documents show that the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) knew it was unethical to censor concerns about the security of mail-in voting prior to the 2020 election, but it proceeded to do so anyway.

On Jan. 22, America First Legal (AFL) revealed a collection of documents alleging that CISA was aware that mail-in ballots were less secure than voting in person before the 2020 election.

“CISA interfered in the 2020 presidential election. CISA knew that in-person voting did not increase the spread of COVID[-19]. CISA knew mail-in voting was less secure. CISA nevertheless supported policy changes to encourage unprecedented widespread mail-in voting,” AFL said in a statement.

“Common sense dictates that ballots submitted via mail are inherently less secure than verified, in-person voting by a citizen who shows identification before casting his or her ballot,” Gene Hamilton, AFL’s vice president and general counsel, said in a press release. “The American people were lied to, and there must be accountability. ”

CISA admitted that mail-in voting held more severe risks than in-person elections, but it collaborated with technology companies to restrict what it deemed misinformation, disinformation, or malinformation surrounding the 2020 election. However, the recently disclosed records reveal how CISA did this.

Austin Alonzo and Savannah Hulsey Pointer contributed to this report.