New York Post, July 8, 2021 | 5:55pm
Americans support implementation of stricter voting laws, including voter ID requirements and restrictions on accepting ballots after Election Day, according to a new poll obtained by The Post Thursday.
The polling, commissioned by the Republican National Committee and conducted by former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, comes as Republicans have advocated for election reforms, with states including Florida, Georgia and Arizona passing stricter voting laws, which top Democrats have argued is a power grab to disenfranchise voters.
The phone survey — which was conducted June 8-June 13 with 800 registered voters, 31 percent of whom identify as Democrats, 29 percent as Republicans, and 36 percent as independents — found 80 percent of its participants feel verifying voter ID “is an important security measure,” while 89 percent said that they are in favor of “purging voter rolls” after individuals have died or are no longer registered in previous areas they resided in.
During an appearance with RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, Conway said that the changes in Georgia’s voting laws were “wildly popular because again, as you’ve seen in everybody’s polling including the media polling, large majorities of Americans favor voter ID.”
McDaniel added that some former critics of voter ID laws, including voting rights activist Stacey Abrams, have come around to voice support for the change despite previously criticizing the push, crediting numerous polls for their change in heart.
“Stacey Abrams in April was against voter ID, it was voter suppression, all of the sudden she says, I was always for voter ID,” she said.
The survey found 78 percent of voters polled said in addition to stronger voter ID laws, they also support signature verification, chain of custody controls, bipartisan observers overseeing counting and “cleaning up voter rolls.”
According to the poll, 71 percent said they do not believe ballots should be accepted after election day and 87 percent were against “ballot harvesting.”
Sixty-six percent of voters surveyed agreed that early-voting ballots should be counted as they are received, with just 18 percent saying they disagree. Fifty-three percent said special voting measures put in p[lace due to the pandemic should be lifted due to the vaccination rate and precautions available like wearing masks.
The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.9 percent.
Senate Democrats’ push for a sweeping election reform bill which received strong pushback from GOP lawmakers, who argued it was an infringement on states rights, was blocked in a party-line vote last month.