With the 2026 GOP convention wrapped up, delegates have made protecting Texas elections a top priority for the 2027 legislative session.
In the Permanent Rules, Platform and Resolutions, and Legislative Committees Report, Texas Republicans outlined steps designed to stop voter fraud and restore trust in elections. The priority calls for implementing stricter eligibility rules, voter registration changes, and closed primaries.
Election integrity has remained a Texas GOP priority since 2020 amid ongoing concerns about voter fraud, particularly in regard to mail-in ballots.
In one such case, a Carrollton candidate confessed to more than 100 felony counts of voter fraud in his failed 2020 mayoral campaign.
Under the priority, delegates called for proof of U.S. citizenship to register to vote, quarterly voter roll maintenance, and verification that commercial and mail-house addresses are not used for voter registration.
They also urged lawmakers to strengthen ballot integrity by expanding the use of paper records and auditable election processes.
One step in that direction was Senate Bill 827, passed in 2025, which requires counties to conduct hand counts to verify electronic voting machine results. However, witnesses in a June 23 Senate hearing testified that practical barriers still make it difficult for Texans to independently verify election outcomes and argued that additional reforms are needed.
The party also supports limiting mail-in ballots to voters with disabilities, military members, and Texans temporarily outside the state.
The Republican Party is further calling for consolidating election dates, requiring a two-thirds majority to approve bond measures, and prohibiting school districts from administering their own elections.
At the June hearing, State Sen. Bob Hall (R–Edgewood) discussed the need for consolidating election dates, arguing that the high number of elections held in May created unnecessary confusion.
The guideline also comes as multiple school districts, such as Lufkin ISD, Comfort ISD, and Barbers Hill ISD, passed hefty bonds with low voter turnout.
Additionally, Republican delegates are seeking to restrict money from out-of-state donors attempting to influence Texas elections. Eliminating donations from foreign entities and organizations connected to terrorism is another part of the priority.
Republicans have further established closing Texas primaries as an important part of the effort to safeguard elections.
Jane Nelson, who recently announced her resignation as secretary of state, declined to implement a closed-primary system and was subsequently sued by the Republican Party of Texas, which saw the change as necessary to prevent Democrat interference in Republican primary elections.
Abbott has thrown his weight behind supporting closed primaries.
“Let me just emphasize we are going to make clear that in the future only Republicans vote in Republican elections,” Abbott told delegates during the GOP convention.
In the priority, delegates also called for the secretary of state to be an elected position to encourage public accountability. Currently, the SOS is appointed by the governor and confirmed by the Texas Senate.
The next legislative session begins on January 12, 2027.
