Posted on 08/24/2011 12:35:33 PM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
Will it suppress the vote, as minority groups and Democrats allege? Or will it restore integrity and increase the state's abysmal turnout at the polls, as those who champion the measure say it will?
Beginning in 2012, voters will be required to show a valid photo ID in order to cast a ballot. Gov. Rick Perry designated the legislation, which passed as Senate bill 14, by state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, as an emergency item. During the 2009 session, the voter ID bill came close to derailing the final weeks of the 81st Legislature as House Democrats engaged in the stall tactic called "chubbing" — debating minor bills in an effort to stall the calendar from advancing — to ensure the measure did not come up for a vote. After last year’s election gave Republicans a 101 to 49 advantage in the House, however, the bill was virtually assured to make it to Perry’s desk.
The new measure means most Texans will have to show an allowed form of identification to vote in any local, state or national election. These include a state-issued ID card or a driver’s license, a military ID, a concealed hand gun license issued by the Department of Public Safety, a passport, or a state-issued election identification certificate. The latter is a free ID issued to a person who requests it specifically for the purpose of voting.
Most of the bills passed this previous session take effect next month, as do a number of provisions in the voter ID bill. The actual photo requirement, however, goes into effect in January after lawmakers decided the state should allot additional time to educate voters about the bill’s requirements.
So what happens next month? Several outreach and education directives begin that are intended to explain to the public what the law does and what voters will need in order to cast a ballot. County voter registrars, for example, are directed to supply the new requirements with each voter registration issued or renewed. The Texas Secretary of State and any county registrar that maintains a website must provide notice of the ID requirements and election clerks will undergo training related to the acceptance and handling of identification.
It’s still unclear what happens after that. Whenever the state Legislature passes a measure that affects voting or changes the mechanisms by which a Texan casts a ballot, a provision of the federal Voting Rights Act allows the U.S. Department of Justice or the federal courts to review the law. That process is pending. The Texas Secretary of State filed its request for pre-clearance with the Department of Justice last month, and a response is expected in September. If the department rules that the bill will not adversely affect voter turnout, opponents of the measure are likely to file litigation to halt the measure.
Web resources:
The Texas Secretary of State Elections website
Texas Department of Public Safety's page on Lawful Presence Requirements needed to obtain an ID.
Voter ID is a joke that's about as prevalent in Texas as the hordes of Mexican illegals doing cash and carry labor here.
“Little Bobby” Menendez of New Jersey is deeply sadden and when asked about this, “Granny” Lautenberg said “I don't like brussel sprouts”...
I too was thinking that as well. 'stringent'!? Actually funny.
Discriminatory my azz. It’s discriminatory to legal voters to allow the illegal voting fraud to go on.
This is a first step. More needs to be done.
Don’t stop with just this.
Make it harder for those fake IDs and fake voters that
seem to come from nursing homes, cemeteries, and ACORN.
Ping!
Perry is an effective politician, one who has moved the needle to the right here in Texas and will do the same in D.C.
Rick Perry started as a Democrat in West Texas (essentially THE only party). He served in the Texas legislature - was known as one of the "pit bulls," conservative members who sat in the lower pit of the House Appropriations Committee and bitterly fought spending increases.
Perry changed parties in 1989, joining Phil Gramm and other conservative Texas Democrats, who now had a true ideological party with a burgeoning Texas GOP.
When Perry campaigned for Lt. Gov. [1998], he and his campaign staff were in it to win and his hard-nosed style was against the "friendly" advice and request of GWB [in re-election bid for Texas Gov] and Rove to run easy against Sharp, a popular democrat (and Aggie friend of Perry's from their A&M years together). Rove wanted to broaden Bush's base for his upcoming White House run. Perry told them where to stick their advice, because he knew the voters would vote for Bush for Gov. and then cross back over and vote for Sharp (D) for Lt. Gov, if he just walked through the motions like the Bush-Rove team asked him to do.
Perry won the seat for Lt. Gov. -- the first Republican elected to that office since Reconstruction. Now 13 years later and into his 3rd term as Texas governor, the GOP holds a super majority. So Perry has earned his conservative spurs -- fighting both parties!
[The Bushes and Rove supported Kay Bailey Hutchison's primary challenge against Gov. Perry the 2010 election too]
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.