It’s time for the GOP to make ending election fraud and rolling back weak voting practices a top priority …now. One major concern to address is expansive mail-in voting without reasonable safeguards. Over 28 states allow voting by mail for any reason — or without one — opening the door for errors or abuse. Judge James Ho of the Fifth Circuit recently upheld a voter ID law in Texas, observing that “mail-in ballots are not secure.” That conclusion echoes what many nations around the world have already acted on: they don’t allow loose vote-by-mail rules. Our postal system was never built to run elections. It wasn’t designed to guarantee timely delivery, or reliably postmark ballots on time, or ensure signature verification.
Republicans should push to return to the gold standard of an “Election Day” voting model for all citizens. There’s a strong precedent: federal law already requires national elections be held on one day. Absentee ballots — especially in their more permissive forms — present our largest known risk for voter fraud. Democrats argue there’s no evidence mail-in voting is broadly misused. But those same critics resist even basic auditing of ballot signatures. Worse yet, vital records — like lists of mail-in ballots from the 2020 election — have at times been abandoned or destroyed, preventing any serious inquiry.
Congress, the Department of Justice, and others have failed to act decisively. While nearly 20 states have passed restrictions on expansive mail-in voting since 2020, investigations into large mail-in ballot surges and alleged ballot harvesting remain unanswered. Donald Trump has pushed for an executive order to end wide mail-in ballot access. He’s argued that without honest elections our sense of nationhood is hollow. Other countries have long imposed strict rules around voting by mail, or banned it outright, especially when their systems faced widespread abuse.
The GOP needs to do more than complain — it must act. Audits, voter ID laws, ending unwarranted mail-in voting, enforcing signature verification, prosecuting abuses, and holding hearings should all be front and center. If we allow elections that even seem unfair, we erode faith in our republic itself — and that hurts every American, regardless of party.
As conservatives look toward the midterm elections next year, you can be sure that this issue will be front and center at Eagle Council 54. We would love for you to join us in St. Louis, Missouri on November 1st for this wonderful leadership conference. Just visit PhyllisSchlafly.com to find out more about the program and to register. That’s Phyllis Schlafly dot com. Thank you and join us next time for the Phyllis Schlafly Report.
