12.06.07
Voter ID Laws Do More Harm Than Good
This is something to keep in mind as the Texas “wing-nuts” gear up this interim for another attempt next session, at ramming through stricter voter ID law in Texas, if they’re able to hold onto power. Study after study has been done on stricter voter ID laws and two things keep coming back. The two conclusions are, as this post form The Monkey Cage points out Do Voter Identification Laws Depress Turnout?, (1) these laws suppress turnout, and (2) the alleged voter fraud these laws purport to save us from does not exist.
Though there are some questions still to resolve—most importantly, the impact of voter identification laws on ethnic minorities—these two studies demonstrate that strict identification laws will likely reduce turnout, and will do so especially among populations that are already less likely to vote.
This evidence, combined with the general lack of evidence of voter fraud, suggests that restrictive voter identification laws do more harm than good.
The race for Harris County Tax Assessor Collector will be a huge battle on this issue. (Apparently voter registration wound up under the office of Tax Assessor Collector because of the poll tax). It’s critical to keep in mind that for the GOP in Texas to have any chance of keeping it’s lock on power, they feel they must suppress voter turnout as much as possible. Especially as their inability to govern becomes more apparent, along with the coming demographic changes. Voter suppression has long been a tactic of the right wing - see Rick Perlstein, Operation Eagle Eye.