OUR TURN: Why the fuss over voter ID?
The Justice Department’s refusal to grant pre-clearance to the Texas voter identification law is a decision that flies in the face of common logic.
On March 12, the department declined to give its approval to the new law that requires voters to show some form of photo identification when they go to the polls.
Federal officials said many Hispanic voters lack the required state-issued identification and so would be discouraged from voting.
The department says the state also failed to prove the law is non-discriminatory.
In a letter to Texas officials, according to the Associated Press, the department said Hispanic voters in Texas are as much as 120 percent more likely than non-Hispanic voters to lack a driver’s license or state-issued photo ID to display at the ballot box.
Texas and other states with a history of racial discrimination, mainly in the South, are required under the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to get pre-clearance from the department on voting-law changes to prove the adjustments will not disenfranchise voters.
Notwithstanding the state’s checkered past on civil rights, the voter ID law challenged by the department doesn’t seem any more onerous than other activities and transactions that already require an approved document with a photo.
Proponents of the voter ID law, including state Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, say it will prevent voter fraud by requiring proof of identity at the ballot box.
Granted, Texas hasn’t had an explosion of voter fraud cases lately, but that doesn’t mean the law is a bad one — or that it might someday actually prevent voting irregularities.
Federal prosecutors are offering a specious argument. Saying the voter ID law violates civil rights seems illogical when anyone old to enough to vote is also required to show some form of photo identification for all of the following:
Driving, boarding an airplane, receiving a passport, purchasing alcohol or tobacco, obtaining a marriage license, receiving a medical license, checking out a library book, purchasing certain over-the-counter drugs, some credit card purchases and writing checks.
Nor is it really that difficult to get some form of photo ID. The photo IDs valid at the ballot box include a driver’s license, Department of Public Safety personal ID card, military ID card, citizenship certificate, passport or concealed handgun license.
In addition, the public also supports the voter ID law.
According to a recent Lighthouse Opinion Polling and Research poll, 86 percent of Texans — both Republicans and Democrats — support a photo-ID requirement.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has filed a suit in federal court to fast track voter ID and is awaiting a response from U.S. prosecutors. And he is also challenging the Voting Rights Act provision that says states such as Texas are required to get pre-clearance.
The Justice Department’s decision is only making more work for the lawyers and is complicating a straightforward issue: Simply proving who you are when you vote.