Texas Voter ID Bill

I do not know how many of you have heard about a proposed law in Texas that would require all voters to have a voter ID card. Many states require a form of identification in order to vote; however, only a few states require a specific voter ID cards. In Connecticut, the following forms of ID is acceptable,

Acceptable forms of identification to fulfill this federal HAVA requirement are a current and valid photo ID that shows the elector’s name and address, or a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or government document that shows the name and address of the voter.
From the city of Norwalk voter web page

In Texas, the new law would require a valid form of state or federally issued photo identification. Notice the difference, Connecticut does not require a valid government issued photo ID. For many people this creates an undue hardship, especially for marginalized communities.

Many who are in favor of the bill argue that it is necessary to prevent voter fraud. However, they do not have any statistical data to back up their claims. In an article in Salon, by Andrew Burmon who wrote,

But according to Lori Minnite, a professor of political science at Barnard College, who has spent the last eight years studying the role of fraud in U.S. elections, the Republican crusade against voter fraud is a strategic ruse. Rather than protecting the election process from voter fraud -- a problem that barely exists -- Minnite says the true aim of Republican efforts appears to be voter suppression across the partisan divide. According to Minnite, investigating voter fraud has become a Republican cottage industry over the last 20 years because it justifies questioning the eligibility of thousands of would-be voters -- often targeting poor and minority citizens in urban areas that lean Democratic. Playing the role of vigilant watchdog gives GOP bureaucrats a pretext for obstructing the path of marginalized and first-time voters headed for the polls.
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The statistics bear me out. From 2002 to 2005 only one person was found guilty of registration fraud. Twenty people were found guilty of voting while ineligible and five people were found guilty of voting more than once. That’s 26 criminal voters -- voters who vote twice, impersonate other people, vote without being a resident -- the voters that Republicans warn about. Meanwhile thousands of people are getting turned away at the polls.

Also keep in mind that all of the voter fraud allegations against ACRON made by the Republicans were proven false. Here on Connecticut in the 2008 elections, the Republicans made claims that that ACRON submitted, this is from an article by Brian Lockhart of the CT Post,

Following a two-year probe, state investigators have cleared the Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now of charges of voter fraud brought by Republican registrars in Bridgeport and Stamford.

"The evidence does not provide a sufficient basis to determine that Connecticut ACORN had an institutional or systematic role in designing and implementing a scheme or strategy to fraudulently register or enroll electors ... prior to the November 2, 2008 election," read the recent report from the Elections Enforcement Commission.

Not only did they find no illegal activity but the commission also said that,

"The Commission finds ACORN ... maintained a system designed to prevent or diminish inaccuracies or inefficiencies in the voter registration drive," read the report. "Unfortunately these attempts to flag problem cards were rendered useless upon processing when the top portion ... was separated and discarded from the voter registration card below, which was retained for record keeping."

So why are the Republicans pushing the requirement of government issued photo ID? Because for many marginalized citizens getting a government issued photo ID is nearly impossible. Many are low income citizens who have no permanent address or do not have access to their birth certificate nor passport. In many states in order for you to get a copy of your birth certificate you must request it in person and if you are living in another state that means you must travel to your birth state to get a copy of your certificate, for many that is an impossible burden. An opinion piece in Politico writing by Tova Andrea Wang who wrote…

Yet law enforcement statistics, reports from elections officials and widespread research have proved that voter fraud at the polling place is virtually non-existent. The motivation for ginning up this bogeyman is often to intimidate certain groups of voters and, ultimately, make it harder for minority or disadvantaged groups to exercise their right to vote. It is no accident that these operations have repeatedly focused on minority communities.
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The Illinois GOP Senate candidate Mark Kirk was caught on a recording talking about a massive poll watcher operation in minority communities. In Massachusetts, tea partiers are also mobilizing. The president of the Greater Boston Tea Party said she was concerned about “Asian-American voters using utility bills to prove their addresses.”

Wisconsin has been a similar hub of activity. In September the organization “One Wisconsin Now” obtained audio recordings of tea party leaders planning to work with the GOP to challenge voters on Election Day -- largely in minority and student communities.

Why do the Republicans what tougher voter ID laws?

GOP Pushes for Photo ID Across the Nation
CBS St. Louie
AP Wire Story

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Empowered by last year’s elections, Republican leaders in about half the states are pushing to require voters to show photo ID at the polls despite little evidence of fraud and already-substantial punishments for those who vote illegally.

Democrats claim the moves will disenfranchise poor and minority voters - many of whom traditionally vote for their candidates. The measures will also increase spending and oversight in some states even as Republicans are focused on cutting budgets and decreasing regulations.
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“I can’t figure out who it would disenfranchise,” Hargett [Tennessee Secretary of State] said. “The only people I can think it disenfranchises is those people who might be voting illegally.”
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Elections officials in North Carolina said most of the voting fraud allegations they investigate turn out to be unfounded. Over the past five years, the state has referred about 350 cases to district attorneys for investigation, mostly in cases of felons who cast a ballot without first getting their voting rights restored. There are more than six million registered voters in the state. States already have ways to check the identity of voters when they register and when they go to cast a ballot. North Carolina’s current law requires residents to provide documents proving their name and address in order to register to vote. Those who register improperly can be charged with a felony.

The Republicans are trying to disenfranchise as many liberal voters as they can, they are attacking the right to vote in low-income, minority and student voters, traditionally Democratic voter. They are trying to destroy unions that have also typically backed Democratic candidates.

How does this affect the trans-community? When I voted in the 2010 elections and I gave my driver license to the checker at the door, he stopped me and asked if this was me. I said yes, he stared at me for several seconds with a sour look on his face and then handed me back my driver license. For me, I have an “F” on my driver’s license; however, in many states you cannot get the gender marker changed on your license until you have surgery and for many trans-people that is not an option because of the cost of tens of thousands of dollars. In Texas, the Dallas Voice in an article said

Lisa Scheps, former executive director of TENT [ Transgender Education Network of Texas], said the law would have a tremendous effect on transgender people.

“So many times transgender people are cross-identified,” Scheps said.

If the photo on a government-issued identification doesn’t match someone’s presentation, the ID will be questioned and the person may be denied the right to vote, she said. While the transgender community wasn’t the main target of this legislation, she said many in the community will be affected.

“It’s a bad bill,” she said. “One more way to disenfranchise many groups of people.”