Tag Archives: Texas Voter ID law

U.S. 5th Circuit Appeals Court Overturns Texas Voter ID Law

When originally passed by Governor Rick Perry and the staunchly Republican, staunchly CONservative (and it must be said, staunchly white, privileged and male) Texas Legislature of 2011, lawmakers in Austin’s pink dome had set out to do one thing… create one of the strictest Voter ID laws in the history of the United States.  Their goal with the law was to discourage voting by any and all disadvantaged classes at every possible measure.  So much so that even supporters of the concept of Voter ID laws took a look at Texas, and decided our law was a bridge too far.

Thus was the case with today’s ruling from the United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, who sided with the Obama Administration  and overturned the state’s ridiculous Voting restrictions.  Here’s the main story from the Associated Press (via the New York Times)…

AUSTIN, Texas — A federal appeals court struck down Texas’ voter ID law on Wednesday in a victory for the Obama administration, which had taken the unusual step of bringing the weight of the U.S. Justice Department to fight new Republican-backed mandates at the ballot box.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the 2011 law carries a “discriminatory effect” and violates one of the remaining provisions of the Voting Rights Act — the heart of which was struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2013.

Texas was allowed to use the voter ID law during the 2014 elections, thereby requiring an estimated 13.6 million registered Texas voters to have a photo ID.

Section 2 of the landmark civil rights law required opponents to meet a far higher threshold and prove that Texas intentionally discriminated against minority voters.

By most assessments, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is considered to be one of the most Conservative federal benches in the United States.

To those that have lived through the last several election cycles in Texas, today’s ruling shouldn’t be much of a surprise, as it really was the logical conclusion.  As I wrote in 2014, the Texas Voter ID law is in a class all its own because the state doesn’t want everyone to vote.  The law targets certain voting populations, while letting others slide.  And for those that may not have access photo ID but are extra determined to vote, Texas makes their new form of “non-ID” (used only for voting, and nothing else) very cumbersome to obtain.  Basically, Texas lawmakers have been asking for this decision, so it’s good to see that they finally got it.

Here is the link to the court’s full opinion.  

As of press time, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had yet to comment on the 5th Circuit ruling.  Understandable given he’s been busy lately trying to figure out how to keep himself out of prisonwhich seems to be taking precedence over other important business of the state.  When is he planning to resign anyway??

Texas Non-ID

This is the Election Identification Certificate, otherwise known as Texas’ non-ID.  Photo credit:  The Texas Department of Public Safety

Texoblogosphere: Week of October 28th

The Texas Progressive Alliance says VOTE VOTE VOTE as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff published an index to all his interviews and judicial Q&As for the 2014 cycle.

Libby Shaw writing for Texas Kaos and Daily Kos is not going to be quiet about the blatantly discriminatory Voter Photo ID poll tax law. Texas Voter Photo ID Law Disenfranchises 600,000 to 744,980 American citizens.

From WCNews at Eye on Williamson. Proposition 1 will do little if anything to address the neglect of the last 20 plus years. Is it worth voting for? Probably not, but it’s likely to pass anyway. Proposition 1 – The Least They Could Do.

A very powerful statute designed to short-circuit the anti-First Amendment SLAPP suits filed in Texas is explained in this post at PDiddie’s Brains and Eggs.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme urges you to vote and support not only women’s health, but the health care for all Texans.

Neil at All People Have Value offered his 2014 ballot for elections in Texas and Harris County. APHV is one of many interesting pages to see at NeilAquino.com.

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And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

BOR offers endorsements in the Austin City Council races.

Hair Balls profiles the outside agitators that are fighting to repeal the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.

Texans for Public Justice documents just how much the payday lenders love Greg Abbott.

Lone Star Q rounds up Texas candidate endorsements by LGBT groups around the state.

The Texas Election Law Blog makes a valiant effort to calculate the administrative cost of voter ID in Texas.

Robert Rivard wants to know why you’re not voting.

Texas Clean Air Matters calls out the Heartland Institute for misinformation about wind energy.

Nancy Sims explains how voter ID disenfranchised her (straight-GOP-ticket-voting) father.

Mary Flood urges everyone to make informed votes for judicial candidates.

 

Today’s feature photo is the Mission San José y San Miguel de Aguayo in San Antonio, Texas, a national historic site and of major importance to Texas history.  Find out more by visiting San Antonio Missions National Historical Park.

Texas Doesn’t Want Everyone To Vote

With the approaching apex of election season, debates over voting rights and procedures are certain to become vigorous.  Last week on Houston Matters with Craig Cohen, I even managed to enter the fray with fellow panelists Russ Capper and Lisa Falkenberg over the issue.  Russ stated that he is clearly in favor of Voter ID, while Lisa questioned the necessity of such laws when in person voter fraud doesn’t seem to be a problem.  You can listen to the segment here if you’d like.

The main point that I attempted on the show was this… If Texas really cared about implementing an effective Voter Law, then they would help people to vote instead of hindering them.

On the issue, I agree more with Lisa’s position.  There simply has not been sufficient evidence to prove that Voter impersonation is a problem. The cases of actual in person voter fraud are so miniscule that we’d have better proof to institute a ‘don’t climb on top of a lightning rod during a thunderstorm’ law to prevent people from getting struck by lightning.  This is a problem that simply doesn’t exist.

Be that as it may, I’m not in total opposition to Voter ID laws in concept.  But Texas’ law is specifically designed to disenfranchise certain groups of voters, while not providing sufficient resources to help them vote or obtain the proper ID.  Alice Speri of Vice News has more on what makes Texas law so restrictive…

The voter ID law is not just discriminatory, Martinez Fischer said — it’s also very short-sighted.

[…]

He called Texas’ voter law the “most stringent, harshest voter identification legislation in the country.”

To put that in perspective, Texas’s voter ID law is seen as being more strict than Alabama’s — the state that successfully challenged part of the Voting Rights Act before the Supreme Court.

“Alabama is not exactly a hotbed of liberalism, but even their voter ID law is much, much more lenient and permissive than Texas,” Singh said. “In Alabama, you can use a student ID card, or a government card. In Texas, you can’t use a University of Texas ID. A state employee in Texas is not able to use his state government ID card.”

So a student photo ID, or government employee ID cannot be used to vote, but a concealed carry permit can?  That’s nothing more than a veiled attempt to go after what the Republican Party assumes to be their “base voters” while making sure as many non-Republicans as possible get turned away, or are forced to cast a Provisional Ballot.

The only solution that Texas’ stringent law does provide is a new form of ID that can only be used for voting… the Election Identification Certificate, or EIC.  These special IDs are “free” to those that qualify for them, but the birth certificate that you have to purchase before obtaining the EIC is at a cost.  Another problem with the EIC system?  Most people don’t know where to obtain them, and the Secretary of State isn’t helping to change that.  But at least Democrats have noticed and are trying to broach the issue before election day.  Here’s more from the Texas Tribune

More than a week ago, Texas Senate Democrats put Texas Secretary of State Nandita Berry on notice: They wanted her office to get more mobile units on Texas streets to give voters without an acceptable photo ID a chance to get one before November’s election.

One week later, there’s been no movement to do so, says state Sen. Kirk Watson, D-Austin.

The problem, he says, is that there are not one but two state agencies in charge of putting more mobile units out in the community. The Secretary of State’s office (SOS), which includes voter registration, has to coordinate where the mobile units will go. The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) actually owns the mobile units which can issue the new Texas election identification certificates, or EICs.

After trying to get the two entitites to agree on how to do it — and to do it quickly — Watson said late Tuesday that it “appears to me it is a breakdown on both ends.”

Under the state’s voter ID law, residents must present an acceptable form of photo identification for their vote to be counted. Acceptable photo IDs include Texas driver’s licenses or Texas ID cards that have not been expired for more than 60 days at the time of voting, U.S. passports, or military or U.S. citizenship certificates with photos.

Texas Republicans (more like TEApublicans… many don’t deserve to carry the label “Republican” anymore) have led the charge to adopt the nation’s most restrictive Voter ID law.  They do this because they know that having fewer people vote gives them a better chance at maintaining power and codifying their fringe-Right ideology. For those out there that truly consider themselves to be proud ‘Texas Republicans’, the the Voter ID law should give them pause over what their party stands for.

For Texas Democrats, this is all the more reason to prove them wrong in 2014.  If you haven’t volunteered to help get the word out about the changes to voting, please do so.  Try as they may, the Texas GOP cannot hold the state back forever. In 2014, let’s make sure that the TEApublicans get to see what Texas really looks like.

 

 

 

Texoblogosphere: Week of February 24th

The Texas Progressive Alliance thinks Ted Nugent is an appropriate spokesman for the modern Republican Party of Texas as it brings you this week’s roundup.

Off the Kuff analyzes the turnout issue for Democrats in 2014.

WCNews at Eye on Williamson on the Round Rock members of The Lege reporting to the local business lobby, while leaving out the issues that matter most to the people in their districts, Schwertner, Gonzales, & Dale Go To The Chamber.

CouldBeTrue of South Texas Chisme is appalled at Texas Republicans holding a faux hearing on women’s health care. Give it up. Republicans have waged a real war against women and their health care. You’re not fooling anyone.

It’s Ted Nugent’s (Texas Republican) party, and we just have to live with it, noted the Texas Observer — and excerpted by PDiddie at Brains and Eggs. But there were also problemas grandes para Dan Patrick last week.

Texpatriate endorses John Whitmire in the Democratic primary for State Senate District 15.

Neil at All People Have Value was prompted by a visit to Galveston to reflect that we can choose to view ourselves in life on the mainland, on an island or at sea. All People Have Value is part of NeilAquino.com.

And here are some posts of interest from other Texas blogs.

Robert Rivard argues that cities and counties are left trying to solve the problems caused by a generation of indifference from Texas’ state leadership.

Lone Star Q provides video of Wendy Davis discussing her support of same sex marriage to the Express News editorial board.

Concerned Citizens warns about the animus hiding behind religious exemptions.

Better Texas explains why a higher minimum wage is good for Texans.

Grits for Breakfast highlights the modern equivalent to the Dallas Buyers Club.

Nonsequiteuse gets to the heart of the Nugent/Abbott affair.

Greg Wythe continues his in depth look at how the voter ID law was enforced in the 2013 election in Harris County.

Burkablog celebrates what would have been Barbara Jordan’s 78th birthday.

Chris Quintero witnessed and videotaped two Austin Police Department officers detain and arrest a female jogger for jaywalking and not immediately identifying herself (see here for more).

And Swamplot makes us all feel old by taking a look at the house from Reality Bites, 20 years later.