Wednesday's first GOP Presidential Primary debate was full of questions about the economy, war in Ukraine, climate change, and even UFOs. But conspicuously left out of the fray was one thing, and it is something that, besides the economy, is concerning to many Americans. Fox News Channel debate moderators Martha McCallum and Bret Baier did not ask the candidates one question about election integrity. And while the media tries to downplay that fact, a new poll reveals that fair and honest elections are front and center on the minds of all Americans.

The poll was conducted by the Honest Elections Project (HEP) and surveyed 1,600 registered voters between July 13-16. What it showed was that while Democrats and the media insist that requiring any form of identification, especially for minorities, amounts to discrimination and voter suppression, a whopping 88 percent of Americans support voter ID laws, including 82 percent of black voters and 83 percent of Hispanic voters. Just nine percent said they did not support voter ID laws. 

NOT A SINGLE QUESTION FROM @FoxNews ABOUT ELECTION INTEGRITY. Nobody cares about how we're actually going to win a general election.

— Jake Hoffman (@jakehoffmanfl) August 24, 2023

The HEP poll essentially refuted much of the left's claims that mail-in voting and ballot harvesting are needed to counteract what they say is Republicans' goal to suppress the voting rights of minorities. Of those surveyed, 76 percent said that “Voting in person is better than voting by mail.” Receiving ballots in the mail that are not requested by voters was not popular either, with 73 percent of respondents saying that was a bad idea. Respondents stated that practices like ballot harvesting "should be illegal," and 89 percent said that “Every ballot should be received by Election Day.”

The issue of whether there was actual fraud during the 2020 presidential election will be debated for the foreseeable future. But given the "elephant not in the room" reference by Bret Baier referring to the absence of former President and current GOP frontrunner Donald Trump, and his upcoming arraignment in Georgia on charges that he tried to overthrow the election, and the obvious concern Americans have, why wouldn't there have been questions on election integrity? There would have been no need to give an opinion on Trump's guilt or innocence or whether they believed fraud occurred. But in light of the lingering questions surrounding fraud and the 2020 election, Americans might want to know how the candidates would ensure fair and honest elections should they become President.

Not one question about election Integrity tonight.

They did give @Mike_Pence a platform to misrepresent what Grassroots Americans were actually asking him to do on January 6th, 2021.

If we can't talk about our broken elections, how are we ever going to be able to fix them?

— Kari Lake (@KariLake) August 24, 2023

Former Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake asked the question on X (Twitter), "If we can't talk about our broken elections, how are we ever going to be able to fix them?" Lake has claimed possible election irregularities of her own during the last Arizona Governor's race. She did mention the fact that the closest any questions came on the question of election integrity was asking all the candidates if they believed that former Vice President Mike Pence, a 2024 candidate himself, did the right thing on January 6, 2021. Lake went on to say in her tweet that Pence was given "a platform to misrepresent what Grassroots Americans were actually asking him to do on January 6, 2021." Trump attorney John Lauro seemed to back that claim up during recent Sunday show appearances. He stated that Trump merely wanted Pence to "pause" vote counting to allow investigations by the states into any voter fraud. Lauro added that by asking Pence for a delay, he was within his First Amendment rights.

The fact that Fox News failed to ask the GOP candidates on the stage about election integrity could be why Donald Trump is running away in the polls. It is an issue that is important to average Americans, and while Democrats will say that Trump engaged in some sort of election "conspiracy," his supporters see his indictment as fighting for election integrity. Have Republicans allowed Democrats to make questioning the fairness of elections a crime? There are plenty of instances of Democrats crying foul over elections. Is Fox News going along with that narrative?

We are at the very beginning of the process, with more debates to come. It will be up to the Republican base to make it known that this is an issue that they want candidates to be asked and need to address.