US Appeals Court Unanimously Upholds Texas Law Requiring ID to Cast Mail Ballots

‘The ID number requirement is obviously designed to confirm that each mail-in ballot voter is precisely who he claims he is,’ the judge wrote.

Ballots in Raleigh, N.C., in an undated file photograph. Allison Joyce/Getty Images

A federal appeals court on Aug. 4 upheld a Texas law requiring voters to submit identification information to cast mail-in ballots, drawing praise from President Donald Trump.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled 3–0 that the requirement does not violate federal laws, namely the Civil Rights Act, reversing a lower court decision. The state’s Election Protection and Integrity Act of 2021 requires a person to submit an individual ID number before registering to vote by mail.

“We have no difficulty concluding that this ID number requirement fully complies with a provision of federal law known by the parties as the materiality provision of the 1964 Civil Rights Act,” appeals court Judge James Ho wrote in the ruling.

Ho was joined by Judges Don Willett and Patrick Higginbotham.

The panel added that mandating that potential voters submit their names and addresses was not sufficient to address possible fraud concerns.

“That information is easily available to anyone who simply requests it,” Ho wrote, referring to the address and name requirement. “As a result, any person can request and receive that information about a registered voter, use that information to apply for a mail-in ballot, and then cast the ballot, with minimal risk of detection.”

The Election Protection and Integrity Act of 2021 “combats mail-in ballot fraud in Texas by generally requiring voters who wish to vote by mail to provide an identification number—such as a driver’s license, social security, or other personal identification number—first, on their mail-in ballot applications, and second, on the mail-in ballots themselves,” according to the ruling.

“The ID number requirement is obviously designed to confirm that each mail-in ballot voter is precisely who he claims he is,” Ho wrote.

The order reversed a 2023 ruling by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez, who said the presence of an accurate identification number was not a material requirement for determining whether someone should be allowed to vote. He said that the Texas law also violates the Civil Rights Act.

“Thus, the Court concludes as a matter of law that a voter’s ability to provide the ID number associated with her voter registration record ... is not material to her voter qualifications under Texas law,” Rodriguez wrote.

Republicans at the state and national level hailed the appeals court’s ruling. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said, “Voter ID is one of the most crucial tools in the battle against election fraud.”

In an Aug. 5 Truth Social post praising the order, Trump said: “THIS IS GREAT NEWS!!! Should be Nationwide!!!”

The state’s Election Integrity Protection Act of 2021 was signed into law in September of that year, overcoming maneuvers by lawmakers from the Democratic Party to block the bill. At one point, House Democrats left Texas in a bid to prevent the Republican-controlled chamber from conducting business, but the bill ultimately passed in the House.

Democrats in Texas recently used a similar tactic to try to block the Republican-controlled Legislature from advancing a redistricting map, prompting Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, to order the Texas Department of Public Safety to find and arrest the House members who left the state.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.