Fight over Voter ID heats up Senate

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Texas senators have begun their long, drawn-out fight over the Voter ID bill, with invited testimony expected to begin this afternoon. The Senate is meeting in a public hearing in its chambers in the Capitol, with a full gallery of spectators and a hallway filled with people waiting to make their voices heard.

It is an issue divided straight down party lines and that began flaring up tempers within the first few days of session, when Senate Republicans voted to exempt the voter ID bill from normal voting rules.

Historically, in order for a bill to come to the Senate floor for a vote, two-thirds of the Senate must agree to it. With the exemption, voter ID can come to the floor for a vote with only a simple majority. Essentially, that guarantees it will pass out of the Senate and move on to the House for a vote.

The controversy surrounding voter ID involves the belief that it could disenfranchise some voters. The Senate Democrats claim it simply a form of voter suppression and an effort to limit the number of minority and low-income citizens who come to the polls. However, Republicans supporting the measure claim requiring voters to bring a photo ID to the polls will stop voter fraud, which they contend is a problem in Texas.

According to the Texas Attorney General's Office, there have been 30 cases of voter fraud prosecuted in Texas. Records indicate a majority of these cases are due to people sending in ballots on behalf of others not signing the front of the envelope, a mandate put in place a few years ago. There are more than 90 additional cases of voter fraud referred to the Attorney General's office that have not yet been thoroughly investigated.

Lawmakers have said that none of the cases prosecuted for voter fraud would have been prevented with a Voter ID law.

The Senate's schedule for the day is to hear invited testimony on voter fraud first and then allow the public to weigh in on the issue. Testimony is expected to go late into the day.

Watch our livestream of the hearing here until 4:30 p.m. and check out Jenny Hoff's political liveblogging here.

Here is the list of people invited to testify in today's hearing:

Called by Democrats:

• Gary Bledsoe, President, Texas NAACP.
• Dr. Chandler Davidson, Research Professor, Rice University
• Tova Wang, VP Common Cause
• Daniel Kohrman, Senior Attorney, AARP
• Adam Sckaggs, Counsel, Brennan Center for Justice
• Toby Moore, Elections Researcher, Research Triangle Institute
• Gerry Hebert, Executive Director, Campaign Legal Center
• Dennis Borel, Executive Director, Coalition of Texans with Disabilities
• Called by Republicans:
• Cameron Quinn, Academic Adviser, Carter-Baker Commission
• Wes Taylor, Director, George Elections Division
• Frank Strickland, Fulton County Elections Board
• Thomas Wheeler, Chair, Indiana Elections Commission
• Hans von Spakovsky, Former FEC Commissioner
• Leo Vasquez, Harris County Tax Assessor-Collector
• Coby Shorter, Deputy Texas Secretary of State

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Sources: Office of Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay; Senate

Democratic Caucus