Just the Facts - Free and Fair Elections in Texas

This series is made possible by the Center for Policy Progress. Check out Home | Policy Progress

Just the Facts: Ensuring Free and Fair Elections

July 2025

Summary: Elections are vitally important to Americans, but our election systems are not working well. We can start to fix it with the right policies at the national and state level.

Free and Fair Elections are Important

This probably seems self-evident. It will come as no surprise that the vast majority of Americans believe it's a vital part of our country. A recent poll found that 92% of Americans consider "Free and Fair elections conducted without fraud" to be very important to American life. (1)

Research shows that countries with functioning democracies have better economic opportunities, better education and infrastructure, and better protections of human rights and fundamental freedoms. (2)

But our election system is failing us

However, as important as it is, our election system in the US is not working well. We see evidence of this in the news every day.

It also shows up in international rankings. On the Democracy Index published by Freedom House, the US ranks near the bottom of the large, advanced countries, behind Canada, Australia, Japan and almost every country in Western Europe. (3)

Experts identify a number of reasons for this: Misinformation, often amplified by social media, extreme polarization, Barriers to voting, the corruptive influence of money in politics, foreign interference, and gerrymandering.

As bad as the US is when it comes to Free and Fair elections, Texas is even worse. Northern Illinois University ranks states based on ease of voting. In their most recent ranking, for 2022, Texas ranks 46th. (4)

It's not hard to see why - compared to most other states, Texas makes it harder to register to vote, provides limited mail-in voting, has strict ID requirements, and less early voting. Texas has closed more than 700 polling locations since 2013, disproportionately affecting Black and Hispanic communities and leading to long wait times at the polls. In some areas, the number of polling stations has been reduced by more than 50%. (5)

The most recent Texas Republican platform makes it clear - they intend to continue to make it harder to vote, and to prevent more people from voting. For example, the platform calls for reducing early voting to just 3 days, making it harder for working people to find time to vote. They want to further limit mail-in voting and make it harder for people to register to vote. (6)

They also call for repealing the Voting Rights Act, one of the signature achievements of the Civil Rights era. (6)

Republicans sometimes try to justify these policies by using concerns over voter fraud. But the fact is, voter fraud is almost non-existent. These are really just attempts to tilt elections in their favor, by making it harder for young people, minorities, and working people to vote.

Texas is way behind when it comes to voting rights, and Texas Republicans are committed to making it even worse. We can't let that happen.

Given all this, it is no surprise that Americans are losing faith in our democracy. According to a 2024 survey, only 47% of Americans are "Fairly" or "Completely" confident that American elections are free, fair and secure. (7)

Policies to make our elections freer and fairer

There is no question - Free and Fair elections are vitally important, and right now they aren't working well. What can we do, at the Federal and State level, to make it better?

At the National Level

Support legislation like the John Lewis Voting Rights Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, to protect voting rights.
Reduce polarization – start by keeping all our dialog civil, even with those with whom we disagree.
Counter misinformation – share facts and call out false claims.
Reduce the corrosive effect of money on our elections. In 2024, billionaires from outside of Texas gave Governor Abbott millions of dollars, which he used to get radical right candidates elected to the Texas House, giving him the majority he needed to get his voucher bill passed.

At the State Level

Make voter registration easier. One important way to do this is to allow for online registration. 42 states already do this.
Expand early voting
Protect mail in voting and absentee voting
Establish independent redistricting commissions to reduce gerrymandering.

These are common sense reforms that would make our elections freer and fairer. And most Texans support them. For example, a recent survey of Texans by University of Houston found that 70% of respondents support on-line voter registration, and 77% of respondents support an independent redistricting commission. (8)

These are all good policies to improve our election system, but the first step is to elect legislators who are committed to strengthening and protecting our democracy.

Sources: