Overview

• A three-judge Fifth Circuit panel unanimously reversed a 2023 injunction, ruling that Texas’s 2021 Election Integrity Protection Act requiring a driver’s license, state ID or the last four digits of a Social Security number on mail ballots complies with the Civil Rights Act’s materiality provision.
• Judge James Ho wrote that “mail-in ballots are not secure” and held that number-matching is plainly material to verifying voter identity under state law.
• Under the ruling, Texas election officials may begin rejecting mail-in ballots that lack valid ID numbers or contain mismatches, and state authorities plan to enforce the law immediately.
• President Donald Trump hailed the outcome on Truth Social and called for nationwide adoption of similar ID checks, while the Justice Department is evaluating whether to appeal.
• Opponents—including the Biden administration and civil rights groups—argued the mandate risked disenfranchising voters over minor errors but saw their challenge dismissed by the appeals court.