Federal appeals court restores Texas mail ballot ID requirements

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has restored key provisions of Texas' 2021 election law, Senate Bill 1, reversing a March 2025 district court ruling that blocked them under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Writing for the court, Judge Andrew Oldham ruled that the plaintiffs lacked standing on most claims, asserting that the rules protect election integrity. The decision reinstates strict mail-in ballot identification requirements, ballot curing processes, and mandatory assistant oaths.

Fifth Circuit appeals court ruling

• ▪The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed a March 2025 district court decision by U.S. District Judge Xavier Rodriguez that had blocked nine provisions of Texas' Senate Bill 1.
• ▪The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals issued an 11-page ruling on August 12, 2026, restoring several provisions of Texas' 2021 election law, Senate Bill 1, that govern mail-in and assisted voting.
• ▪Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a defendant in the lawsuit, described the federal appeals court ruling as a major victory on social media.
• ▪The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the plaintiffs challenging Texas' Senate Bill 1 lacked legal standing on most of their complaints, while rejecting one complaint on the merits.

Texas mail ballot identification requirements

• ▪The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals noted that mail-in application or ballot rejections caused by identification number errors dropped from 11% to 2.7% after the implementation of Senate Bill 1.
• ▪A 2022 study reported by The Texas Tribune found that 1 in 7 voters in the 2022 Texas primary had their applications or ballots rejected following the implementation of Senate Bill 1.
• ▪The restored provisions of Texas' Senate Bill 1 require voters to provide a driver's license number, an identification number, or a Social Security number on mail-in ballot applications that matches state records.

Americans with Disabilities Act challenge

• ▪Texas law allows specific groups to vote by mail, including voters aged 65 or older, individuals with disabilities or illnesses, and individuals expecting to give birth within three weeks of Election Day.
• ▪Plaintiffs in the consolidated lawsuit argued that the mail-in voting provisions of Senate Bill 1 violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by being overly cumbersome and restrictive for voters with disabilities.
• ▪Texas House Democrats broke quorum in 2021 in an unsuccessful attempt to block the passage of Senate Bill 1, which targeted voting initiatives implemented by Harris County during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Voter fraud prevention measures

• ▪Judge Andrew Oldham wrote in the majority opinion that mail-in ballots have long been established as prone to fraud, and that none of the plaintiffs' claims justified interfering with the Texas Legislature's efforts to protect election integrity.
• ▪The restored provisions of Senate Bill 1 require voters and those assisting them in filling out mail-in ballots to sign an oath swearing they did not coerce the voter and disclosing their relationship.

Ballot curing process provisions

• ▪Under Texas election guidelines, the deadline to apply for a mail-in ballot for the November election is October 23, and the deadline to register to vote is October 5.
• ▪The restored provisions of Texas' Senate Bill 1 establish official processes for local election administrators and voters to cure defective mail-in ballots.

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