Katherine Haenschen | BurntOrangeReport

As the Republicans’ voter suppression legislation gets closer to either a vote, a special session, or irrelevance, it’s worth noting why so many of us consider this bill to be voter suppression, rather than voter identification.

Simply put: we already have voter identification. It’s your voter registration card, and when you vote, you must present that card. In absence of that card, you can present a driver’s license, government-issued bill, passport, or other forms of ID.

Proponents of the voter-suppressing ID requirement seem to think that this process leads to widespread voter fraud. Except that’s not true. The Report of the Commission on Federal Election Reform states that “there is no evidence of extensive fraud in U.S. elections or of multiple voting.”

Instead, it is a concerted effort to disenfranchise those groups that have traditionally been marginalized and blocked from practicing their full rights as citizens of the United States of America. From the National Journal:

…it’s not the mainstream majority of voters who are at risk here. It’s the smaller percentage of Americans who are on the electorate’s margins — students, the elderly, low-income voters, African Americans, non-English-speaking residents — who disproportionately tend to lack photo IDs. The same group is more likely to lack proof of citizenship such as passports and birth certificates….

These barriers are not quaint relics of a forgotten era. At the risk of repeating ourselves, let’s look again at the landmark 2008 Survey of the Performance of American Elections, the first empirical, post-election analysis of its kind. Conducted by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, that survey found that in category after category — voter registration, wait times, mail/absentee ballots — African Americans and Hispanics encountered more problems at the polls than whites.

The statistics on ID requirements were particularly disturbing. A full 70 percent of African Americans and 65 percent of Hispanics were asked to show “picture ID,” compared with only 51 percent of whites — even in states where no such ID is required.

Our country is already facing a situation where minorities are having difficulty casting their ballots. We don’t need to be making it more difficult for people to vote–we need to be doing all we can to increase turnout. SB362, the Republicans’ Voter Suppression Legislation, works contrary to this goal, and against recommendations of the Federal Election Reform Commission. From their report:

The introduction of voter ID requirements has raised concerns that they may present a barrier to voting, particularly by traditionally marginalized groups, such as the poor and minorities, some of whom lack a government-issued photo ID. They may also create obstacles for highly mobile groups of citizens. Part of these concerns are addressed by assuring that government-issued photo identification is available without expense to any citizen and second, by government efforts to ensure that all voters are provided convenient opportunities to obtain [an ID].

Let’s see how the Republicans’ Voter Suppression Legislation does on these two counts: making IDs available for free, and making sure all voters have opportunities to receive one. Short version: it doesn’t.

From SB 362, Section 12:

Ok, so it costs $15 if you’re a college student, an unemployed person under age 60, a minority under age 60, a disabled person under 60, a minimum-wage worker under 60, or basically any population group with a higher rate of difficulty paying for the ID. Oh, but wait! The state will provide the ID free of charge if the person needs the ID solely for voting.

So how many free ID’s are we potentially talking about? How many people lack ID and will otherwise be disenfranchised, if–and it’s a biiiig IF–they can actually get to a qualified agency and get an ID?  Paul Burka asserts that Democratic Rep. (and Speaker Pro Tem) Craig Eiland told him that 150,000 Texas Voters lack necessary ID.

From BurkaBlog, quoting a staffer in Eiland’s office:

“Toby Moore was one of the witnesses at the House Voter ID testimony. He worked with Carter-Baker, and he testified that the low end number of affected voters in Texas would be 150,000.””Here’s some quick math to demonstrate that Voter ID would cost Democrats net votes in Texas:

“Texas has 13.5 million voters. Carter-Baker in 2004 and Carter-Ford in 2001 have said that anyway between 5% and 12% of voters won’t have the necessary ID. Meanwhile, Carter-Baker in 2008 said that African Americans are twice as likely as whites NOT to have the necessary ID. Given that 85% to 90% of African Americans support Democrats, it is easy to extrapolate a clear net-loss of votes to Democrats of somewhere between 150,000 and 500,000 net votes.”

And if the ID is free to the voter, then Texas must be picking up the tab. How much have they budgeted? From the Fiscal Note:

Although there could be a revenue loss from the prohibition to collect a fee for a personal identification certificate issued to a person seeking the certificate for the sole purpose of voting, it is unknown how many people would make the request, and therefore unknown the amount of revenue loss that could occur. Otherwise, based on the analysis by DPS, it is assumed that costs associated with requirements for the agency could be absorbed within existing resources.

In other words, the State of Texas has set aside ZERO DOLLARS to pay for an estimated 150,000 new ID cards, ID cards which otherwise should cost between $5 and $15 each. At the low end, we’re still talking over $650,000 in costs to issue IDs to those who do not have one.

And that’s if those folks can get to the state agency to be issued their ID.

Now, what about the second part of the Federal Election Commission’s report? The one in which government must do all they can to enable folks to get this ID? Well, if there’s no fiscal note for creating the IDs, then there’s no money to send folks door-to-door to ensure that our home-bound or disabled Texans can receive the ID they need. In fact, there are few provisions to suggest how exactly Texans go about getting the ID they will need to vote.

There’s nothing in the bill to provide for getting IDs to folks who need them.

The bill simply says that any photo ID issued by a federal agency or institution, or state agency, institution, or political subdivision is valid.

So. Let’s recap.

• Approximately 150,000 Texan voters currently lack ID that would allow them to exercise their constitutional right to vote.
• There is no money being set aside by the State to pay for these ID’s, though to be fair, they are free to the voter if needed.
• There is no mechanism to make sure folks who need this ID can get this ID.

There are many, many more reasons why people should oppose this legislation, but it comes down to this: SB362 will have a disproportionate effect on suppressing voter turnout amongst disadvantaged and marginalized populations. This includes but is not limited to minorities, elderly citizens, young voters, the disabled, rural county dwellers, poor individuals, and folks who simply lack the means to get the appropriate ID, in terms of both time and resources to go to a recognized agency and procure the card.

Voter ID in this form presents an insurmountable burden for too many of our Texas voters.

Those voters happen to overwhelmingly favor Democrats. That’s why the Republicans support it–because it will have an adverse affect on Democratic voters.

Why do I oppose it? Because it’s anti-democratic, in addition to anti-Democratic, and because I don’t believe our state needs to be wasting its time making laws that overwhelmingly hurt the neediest and most disadvantaged.

In short, it comes down to this: do you want Texans, all Texans, to be able to exercise their right to vote to the fullest degree possible? Or only some of them, and if so, which ones?