03.06.09

The single most important issue facing Texas today

Posted in 81st Legislature, Around The State, Bad Government Republicans, Commentary, Elections, Had Enough Yet?, Right Wing Lies at 11:31 am by wcnews

The issues of Voter ID in Texas which became known as “The single most important issue facing Texas today”, will be debated by the Committee of the Whole in the Texas Senate on Tuesday, March 10, 2009. The Texas Democratic Party has all the details. What follows below is all the information one needs to get up to speed on the subject.

Whenever the subject of the proposed Voter ID law (SB 362) comes up in Texas several facts that must be taken into consideration before a discussion ever begins:

• It’s a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. There is no problem with fraudulent in-person voting at polling locations on election day in Texas.
• It woudln’t fix the problem if it did exist. If the bill was to pass, as proposed, it would not keep that fraud it purpots to stop from happening.
• It wouldn’t force voters to show a picture ID to vote. The biggest piece of misinformation surrounding this bill is that a voter will have to show a photo ID to be allowed to vote if this bill is passed, and that is not the case.

Reading from the “Author’s Note” of the bill analysis Sen. Tommy Williams (R- Woodlands) essentially admits this bill is not being proposed to fix rampant voter fraud on election day at polling locations:

Under current law, to vote a regular ballot, voters are only required to present a voter registration certificate to a poll worker. While this practice attempts to ensure that only registered voters receive a regular ballot on Election Day, it leaves a potential loophole for fraud. Individuals are not required to show identification to register to vote. Because of this, it is possible for an unscrupulous individual to submit several falsified voter registration applications and to receive the voter registration certificates for the “fake” individuals. With the current process, no statutory standards exist to verify the identity of individuals at the polling place when they present a voter registration certificate.

Certainly if there was fraud taking place the author would have mentioned that and not used the “potential for fraud” as his only justification. While the bill is to provide a statutory standard to verify identities at the polling place, that is not how the bill is being portrayed.  Voter ID, as it is almost always referred to, carries the implication that voters will have to show an ID with their picture on it to be allowed to vote.  That is not the case.

It’s likely that if those who so passionately believe in stopping voter fraud, knew in reality that this bill was a fraud, they wouldn’t support it.  Realizing that it doesn’t fix the problem, it’s supposed to fix, which doesn’t exist in the first place.  In actuality, it makes fraud on election day no less likely then if this law is never passed.  And once everyone can understand that, it becomes clear why this is nothing more than a scheme to disenfranchise certain kinds of voters [.pdf] – a historic conservative/GOP scheme known as Operation Eagle Eye.  (If anyone shouts ACORN point them here [.pdf]).

If you don’t think it’s true here are all the kinds of identification one can use at the polling place, on election day, to identify themselves, again from the bill analysis of SB 362:

SECTION 10. Amends Section 63.0101, Election Code, as follows:
Sec. 63.0101. DOCUMENTATION OF PROOF OF IDENTIFICATION. (a) Creates Subsection (a) from existing text. Provides that the following documentation is an acceptable form of photo identification, rather than is acceptable as proof of identification, under this chapter:
(1) a driver’s license or personal identification card issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety that has not expired or that expired no earlier than two years before the date of presentation. Deletes existing text relating to a similar document issued to the person by an agency of another state, regardless of whether the license or card has expired;
(2) a United States military identification card that contains the person’s photograph, rather than a form of identification containing the person’s photograph that establishes the person’s identity;
(3) a United States citizenship certificate, rather than citizenship papers, issued to the person that contains the person’s photograph. Deletes existing text relating to a birth certificate or other document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the person’s identity;
(4) a United States passport issued to the person;
(5) a license to carry a concealed handgun issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety. Deletes existing text relating to official mail addressed to the person by name from a governmental entity; or
(6) a valid identification card that contains the person’s photograph and is issued by an agency or institution of the federal government; or an agency, institution, or political subdivision of this state.
Makes nonsubstantive changes.
(b) Provides that the following documentation is acceptable as proof of identification under this chapter:
(1) a copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter;
(2) official mail addressed to the person by name from a governmental entity;
(3) a certified copy of a birth certificate or other document confirming birth that is admissible in a court of law and establishes the person’s identity;
(4) United States citizenship papers issued to the person;
(5) an original or certified copy of the person’s marriage license or divorce decree;
(6) court records of the person’s adoption, name change, or sex change;
(7) an identification card issued to the person by a governmental entity of this state or the United States for the purpose of obtaining public benefits, including veteran’s benefits, Medicaid, or Medicare;
(8) a temporary driving permit issued to the person by the Department of Public Safety;
(9) a pilot’s license issued to the person by the Federal Aviation Administration or another authorized agency of the United States;
(10) a library card that contains the person’s name issued to the person by a public library located on this state; or
(11) a hunting or fishing license issued to a person by the Parks and Wildlife Department. Deletes existing text relating to any other form of identification prescribed by the secretary of state.

Almost a year ago I was able to convert a staunch supporter of Voter ID, using logic and fact, why the bill that was proposed last session was a sham. It took over an hour. But when a person understands the entire process in Texas from registering a voter to showing up and voting at a polling place on election day, it becomes clear why rampant election day fraud is not a problem Texas. Basically it’s just not an efficient of feasible way to “fix” an election. Some will reference ballot stuffing, i.e. LBJ in 1948, but that is completely different than in person election day fraud at a polling location. That’s a corrupt election official, stuffing a ballot box with fake ballots, as opposed to individuals coming through a polling place, posing as a dead person and voting a fake ballot. And again, this law would do nothing to prevent that kind of fraud.

As Kuff pointed out earlier in the week Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst makes the case against voter ID:

That wasn’t his intent, of course, but it’s clear to see in his plea for a “compromise” on the measure that the more people like Lt. Gov. Dewhurst argue for voter ID legislation, the more obvious it is that they’re pursuing a partisan fix to a non-existent problem.

“I still can’t believe we’re not really close on this,” Dewhurst told reporters after the Senate adjourned for the day, just a few minutes ago. “Democrats are concerned about elderly voters with no ID … and I’ve wanted a grace period of 2-4 years. We’ve also considered having the state paying for the ID.”

Right off the bat, he’s admitting that previous efforts by Republicans such as himself to cram this legislation through would have had the effect of disenfranchising some voters, including elderly people such as Royal Masset’s mother, and by implication poorer people. Perhaps if the Republicans had shown any kind of concern for these points earlier on, there might have been room for some kind of compromise, one that made a real effort to address the lack of photo ID among some segments of the voting population. At this juncture, especially after all the crap he tried in the last session and the voter ID bill exception that was carved out of the rules on Day One of this session, I can’t imagine any Democrat taking him at his word on anything related to this topic.

Asked why the Voter ID law is needed, Dewhurst cited allegations that surfaced last year during the presidential campaign in Ohio, of advocacy groups that registered to vote a number of fakers: “Mickey Mouse, the Dallas Cowboys starting team” among others.”In Harris County, we had 4-5,000 people registered to vote who, when they were called for jury duty, they sent their (voter) cards back. That could have been a felony,” he said.

First, note the artful dodge of the question. As has been the case consistently since this bogus issue first became the single most important issue facing Texas today, nobody who favors voter ID legislation can point to a single case of voter impersonation at the polls, which is what this law is allegedly supposed to prevent. There’s certainly various types of vote fraud that occur, mostly having to do with mail-in ballots and yes, voter registration, but in neither case would voter ID legislation have any effect. The solution, such as it is, has never fit the problem.

So whenever the simple right wing question is asked;  I have to show my dirvers license to rent a video, why don’t I have to show it to vote?  That can now be easily responded to by saying that the bill that’s proposed doesn’t force someone show their drivers license, or a picture ID, in order to vote. They can do it by showing an electic bill with their name on it, or a library card, and on, and on, and on.

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