Federal appeals court rules Texas may enforce state law requiring ID numbers to cast mail-in ballots

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled that Texas could enforce its state election integrity law that throws out mail-in ballots that do not include a voter's state identification number or partial Social Security number.

The three-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously declared that the current standard of listing a voter’s name and address was insufficient to address security concerns, Politico reported.

Judge James Ho said the court had "little trouble" siding with the state in the matter, and that the state law did not violate any federal laws.

“The number-matching requirements are obviously designed to confirm that every mail-in voter is who he claims he is, and that is plainly material to determining whether an individual is qualified to vote,” Ho wrote for the panel. 

"Merely requiring mail-in ballot applications to list the voter’s name and registration address triggers significant election security concerns," he later wrote. "That information is easily available to anyone who simply requests it from Texas election officials—who readily provide copies of voter files with such information upon request."

The ruling comes after another panel of the 5th Circuit ruled in March that mail-in ballots must come in by Election Day in order to be counted. 

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.