Debate rages on for Voter ID bill

AUSTIN (KXAN/AP) - The contentious Voter ID bill will be heard in the House Committee on Elections Monday afternoon, where invited testimony will be heard.

The list includes officials from Indiana and Georgia, states that already have voter identification laws, members of the NAACP and the AARP as well as elections officials from Harris County, where lawmakers say thousands of non-citizens have voted in elections. Representatives from the Secretary of State and Attorney General's office will also be on hand for resources. The entire list of invited testimony is at the end of this article.

On Tuesday, the committee will get a chance to hear from the public.

This is not the first debate this session over SB 362. At the beginning of the legislative session, Republicans passed a measure that exempted Voter ID from normal Senate rules, which mandate a two-thirds vote for bills to be brought to the Senate floor.

In March, the bill came to the Senate floor for debate. After almost 24 hours of testimony and heated speeches, the bill passed out of the Senate, exactly as predicted, straight down party lines. Voters who wanted to weigh in the issue, waited throughout the night to testify. The outcome in the House, however, is not as clear with 76 Republicans and 74 Democrats.

Stipulations of the Bill

Under current law, to vote a regular ballot, voters are only required to present a voter registration certificate to a poll worker.

SB 362 would require all voters present a valid form of photo identification to the polls. If a person does not have a state ID or driver's license or other form of photo identification, they could be bring in two other forms of approved identification instead (utility bill, cable bill, etc).

The bill mandates the Secretary of State educate the public on the new voting law by posting a notice on the Web site and on the Web sites of local polling locations. The bill also mandates the Texas Department of Public Safety not charge people who want to obtain a state issued ID solely for the purpose of voting.

A Heated Debate

Though some polls have shown a majority of the public support having to show ID at the polls, the debate under the dome has become extremely partisan.

Republicans who support the measure said the bill will help prevent voter fraud. They say it will prevent illegal immigrants from voting and maintain the integrity of the voting process. Local poll workers showed up to testify during the Senate debate and argued that there are many cases of suspected voter fraud that they have no power to prevent.The pro-Voter ID Web site makes a statement in support of the measure:

"Ensuring the integrity of our election process means anti-voter fraud measures such as secure and accurate voter registration processes, requiring voter verification at the polls by showing photo identification, strengthening the security of the mail-in ballot, and making sure every vote that is cast gets counted."

"I want to know everything there is to know about [the] evidence," said Chair of the Elections committee, Rep. Todd Smith, R-Bedford. "We have a diverse group of witnesses to provide us with every conceivable perspective on this issue."

Democrats, who have spoken out heatedly against the bill, said it is meant to disenfranchise voters. They said it will hurt the elderly population that does not have a photo ID, the disabled and low-income voters. Democrat Matt Glazer, who runs the liberal blog "Burnt Orange Report," said he is against the measure for both political and personal reasons.

"It takes me off the voter roll," said Democrat Matt Glazer. "My identity was stolen and I moved during the process, so my driver's license is invalid."

Rep. Marc Veasey, a Democrat from Fort Worth, conjured up the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, saying the proposals for tighter ID measures are the modern equivalent of the Jim Crow laws that were used to suppress minority turnout for decades.

"Can you really sleep with yourself at night knowing that if this bill passed that most of the people who would be denied the right to vote are black, brown and poor?" said Rep. Veasey, D-Ft. Worth. "It's the same group of people who had barriers put in front of them [during the time of Martin Luther King Jr.] just at a different place and time."

Veasey made comments during a public hearing on the proposal in the House Elections Committee.

The Bill's Future

If the Elections Committee passes the bill and refers it to the House, it must get a majority of the lower chamber in order to pass. The Governor will then either sign or veto the legislation, although he has publicly supported implementing voter identification laws.

Invited Testimony

• Carrie Bledsoe, TX NAACP
• Dewayne Charleston
• Judge in Waller County Mike Ertle, Seminole County
• Florida Supervisor of Elections Jenigh Garrett
• NAACP Legal Defense Fund George Hemmerlein
• Dir. of Harris Co. Voter Registrar John Fund
• Wall Street Journal Reporter Justin Levitt
• NYU School of Law Toby Moore
• TRI International David Muhlhausen
• Policy Analyst for Heritage Foundation Todd Rokita
• Indiana Sec. of State Mary Scott
• TX State AARP Wes Tailor
• Georgia State Elections Division Diane Trautman, Harris County