What Impact the Texas Voter Identification Law Has on Women Voters
In Texas, where early voting for the Nov. 5 elections started on Monday, the state's controversial photo ID law is being enforced for the first time as citizens cast their ballots. In 2012, the Department of Justice found that the law discriminated against minorities and low income voters in the state now there's growing concern that it places an unnecessary burden on women. Name changes that may have come as a result of marriage or divorce, reports say, may cause problems at the polls.
On Tuesday, alocal television station ran a storyabout a judge who faced an issue at the voting booth. "What I have used for voter registration and for identification for the last 52 years was not sufficient yesterday when I went to vote, 117th District Court Judge Sandra Watts toldKiii Newsof South Texas. She had to sign an affidavit affirming her identity in order to vote because the last name on her voter registration card, her maiden name, didn match the last name on her license. is the first time I have ever had a problem voting, she said.
State officials cheap jerseys say the issue, however, may not cause as many problems as the reports suggest. "We want to be very careful not to cause false alarm," Alicia Pierce, a spokesperson for the Texas Secretary of State's office, told TIME. "We've worked very closely with poll workers to create the right forms and the right training to make sure this isn't an issue at the polls."
Though the law requires that names on both the identification card and the voter registration card be "substantially similar," if a person's name Wholesale NFL Jerseys doesn't match exactly they will still have an opportunity to vote. In that case, voters are required to sign an affidavit affirming they are who they claim, which is then noted in the poll book.
A "substantially similar" name, Pierce says, could include a nickname, a maiden name, and or suffix such as "junior." If the poll worker finds that the name is dissimilar, a voter can file a provisional ballot and present updated information within six days of the election.
"In a perfect world, you would update your voter registration card regularly to match any identification that you plan to use," Pierce said.
However, Linda Krefting, the President of the League of Women Voters of Texas says they would rather the voter ID law had not been passed in the first place."We would rather have ended at preclearance," Krefting told TIME. "But, since it is the law, the rights of voters are best protected if people understand what the law requires, what photo IDs are acceptable, and how to get them."
There are seven acceptable forms of identification accepted in Texas, including a state issued driver's license, handgun license or identification card, military ID cards, citizenship cards, passports, and the Texas Election Identification Certificate, a free ID card distributed by the Department of Public Safety that can be used to vote.
The state has implemented extended hours and deployed mobile units to make getting election ID easier. Yet, as of last week, just 41 people across the state had been issued with the cards, the DallasMorning News reports. An estimated 1.4 million eligible voters in the state do not have the proper IDs to vote. Documents include birth certificates, passports, and citizenship papers.
"The real issues would not be going on at the polls," Krefting said.
In Pennsylvania, where a strict photo ID law was passed but had not been implemented, a woman joined the American Civil Liberties Union lawsuit against the state for that very reason. Joyce Block, according to the ACLU of Pennsylvania's website,had never driven and didn't have a state issued ID, but when she went to get an ID in 2012 she was told she couldn't because her birth certificate and her Social Security card were in her maiden name. The only official document she had with her married name on it was her ketubah, the marriage certificate she had received during her traditional Jewish wedding ceremony. Because it was written in Hebrew, a DMV official couldn't verify it.
In 2011, the Chattanooga Times Free Press reported that an elderly woman was denied a photo ID card for the same reason; though she presented a birth certificate, a rent receipt, a voter registration card, and a copy of her lease, she was denied a photo voter card because the names didn't match up. The woman, officials said, should have presented a marriage certificate.
"A full 34% of women don't have documents proving citizenship with their current name on it," Wendy Weiser, director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center told TIME.
Katy Stewart, the executive director of the Transgender Education Network of Texas, told TIME that though she's concerned that fear of what happens when trans people hit the polls will discourage voting, she's encouraging people to double check their information and vote early to avoid problems."This voter ID was defeated and it has come back, it feels like we're getting beat up again, Stewart said. "But it looks like its something that's going to stay, so what we're going to have to do is prepare people to get past that fear and have what they need to vote."
"[The] Department of Justice found that the law discriminated against minorities and low income voters in the state"I keep seeing that in reports like this one; but it does not make sense. Silly me.
Did you know that it is perfectly legal for a married woman to use either her maiden name OR her husband's name, and it is legal for her to use her maiden name on some documents and her married name on others? It is not unusual for married women to use their maiden names in their professional lives, and their husbands' names socially. Also if the FIRST name and the ADDRESS on the picture ID is the same as the oneson thevoter list what are the odds that 2 people with the same first name live at the same address and that one is trying to steal the other's vote? Its absurd, and obviously an attempt at voter suppression.
Republicans cannot win a fair election in many cases, because their policies do not benefit the majority of the voters. Rather than change their policies, they pass laws to prevent certain demographics from voting, or make it more difficult. In Texas there is a Democratic woman candidate who is very popular with female voters, who are more likely to vote Democratic in any case,so Republicans passed this new law to suppress the female vote. If voter fraud were truly the issue, student IDs would be allowed as would any document that reasonably indicates a voter's identity, such as a utility bill, rent receipt, or any picture ID.
The purpose of an ID is to verify a person's identity. So if the poll workers know the identity of the voter as in the case of the judge who tried to vote IN HER OWN COURTHOUSE and still waste her time with this kind of nonsense, then clearly the intention is to suppress the vote,rather than prevent voter fraud. And regardless of the intent, if the policy effectively disenfranchises a voter, it's still unacceptable.
I am a notary. The law requires that prior to notarizing a legal document, the signer presents a state or government issued current, valid photo identification. must match the name on the document to be signed. So without this, none of these people mentioned above can purchase property, have a power of attorney, sign an affidavit, transfer property that they own into a trust, or any number of legal actions that they might urgently need to take. Ok, it CAN be done but it's a pain and some notaries won't do it. is FREE. I can remember at college in 1976 seeing a small table of Young Republicans in the student union. I stopped and chatted with them. Really nice people, I thought, but they want to rule not govern. They're not really interested in an exchange of ideas. Okay, that's cool. Had no idea that years later, they would move to literally establish systems and laws that could disenfranchise the majority of those voting. It takes me a while sometimes. So a woman (after showing her ID, where her names are in the wrong columns) has to sign an extra affidavit swearing she is who she says she is in order to vote and that affidavit is recorded in a pollbook, then that sets up a process whereby if someone doesn't like the way an election turns out, then what's to stop contesting all those affidavit votes? It would be really easy. Just get the pollbook. Yes lets tie up elections in court trying to determine the outcome. Where this leads is not only gridlock in Washington, but potentially throughout the country. Really USA?
What a load of nonsense. Quit trying to stir up problems that are non existant.
If I don't have my voter card, my driver's license works nicely. I can also use my passport as identification. I'm a woman in Texas and I think this new ID to vote law is terrific. No more people with 5 aliases voting, no more dead people voting, etc. The law certainly won't hinder me in any way from voting. Getting my fanny to the polling place in time and in spite of Houston traffic is about the only hinderances. I also thought that, as in some countries where low tech is prevalent, dipping one finger into permanent ink after voting is a fantastic idea as well. Personally, I'm for it if it stops voting fraud.
If I don't get my name to match my driver's license, that's my own fault. I'll pay the penalty for that error by not voting and then get the card updated so I can move forward.
Time we already have enough problems with our government that need to be addressed. Women, a voter card and ID requirements in Texas aren't one of them. Shame on you for such promotion. Why else are they pushing so hard this "VOTER SUPRESSION!!!" bs as well as targeting "Undocumented Workers" with their political strategy. Fortunately for them, its going to backfire. Over 70% of Hispanics support the abortion restrictions put in place in Texas. The numbers are about the same for women as well. Trust me, when the Democrats lose, it won't be because of this fabled "VOTER SUPRESSION!!!"But I'll play your game. This law disenfranchise voters by eliminating or reducing early voting (meaning only hours to vote are during work hours, in which poor people cannot afford to take off), closing polling stations in minority neighborhoods and making them vote further away from home, college students not being able to vote where they attend school. What is funny is that the most common way of voter fraud is by absentee ballots but generally, rebulicans vote absentee, so no changes to that. So yeah, this is more than about showing your ID.
The whole emphasis is wrong here. As a nation, we should be encouraging everyone to vote. I've heard all kinds of weird stuff like "people on welfare shouldn't be able to vote cause they will vote themselves benefits". Well everyone "votes themselves benefits". The rich, the poor, veterans, seniors, etc. Everyone who has a stake in the success of this country, which is everyone who lives here, should be allowed to vote at 18. And voting should not be having to jump through a lot of hoops. It should be easy.