(I am not a lawyer, but) The New Texas Poll Tax (Photo ID) Law Is Illegal

[McCamy Taylor]

Today’s Fort Worth Star Telegram headline read “Voter ID Law Sent to Perry”. It should have read “Texas Poll Tax Law sent to Holder.” Last I heard, Texas was covered by Section 5 of the Voting Right’s Act, which requires that certain states with a pattern of discriminatory voting laws get DOJ clearance before passing new laws that may affect minority voting rights.

There is something called a “bail out” by which a jurisdiction can apply for exemption from federal oversight. Based on 1984 legislation, local governments with a ten year history of nondiscrimination qualify. The Bush DOJ attempted to help out its Good Ol’ Boys in the southern states by refusing to enforce the Voting Rights Act, leading some to claim that no discriminatory behavior (snicker) occurred from 2001-2009. No doubt, Texas plans to ask for such an exemption. However, back in 2006, the Supreme Court ruled that part of Tom Delay’s redistricting was illegal….

The endorsement of the plan, which former House majority leader Tom DeLay crafted to tilt Texas's congressional delegation to the GOP, was not absolute. By a vote of 5 to 4, the court ruled that a sprawling West Texas district represented by Henry Bonilla (R) violates the Voting Rights Act because it diluted the voting power of Latinos.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/28/AR2006062800660.html

(Please, Washington Post, don’t sue me for quoting your fine newspaper)

So, for the record, the state of Texas’ clock on discrimination started ticking again in 2006 after a wrist slap by the SCOTUS. That means that Texas most definitely should qualify for automatic DOJ review when it attempts to change the voting rules (yet again), in a vote that was partisan to say the least.

The 98-46 vote adhered to party lines, with Republicans largely saying the measure is necessary to prevent voter fraud and Democrats countering that it could make it harder for the state's poor and minority voters to go to the polls.

http://www.star-telegram.com/2011/05/16/3079745/house-gives-final-approval-to.html

(Please, Fort Worth Star Telegram, don’t sue me for quoting your fine newspaper).

I hope the appropriate alarms and bells are going off. For those who do not know what is discriminatory about requiring a driver’s license or other government photo ID in order to qualify to vote, consider this. How many residents of cities with mass transit do not drive? How many people who do not drive do not have a driver’s licenses? And how many urbanites vote for Democrats (while their rural and southern counterparts vote Republican)? This is not even counting those too old or poor or sick to have a car---or a driver’s license. And what do the old, sick and poor have in common? They are more likely to be members of a minority group.

Texas has tried to sweeten the deal by providing for cheap and easy photo IDs for the poor. (I will believe this when I see it.) However, the last I heard, any law which interferes with any group’s ability to cast its vote is against the law. And I think the poor, the disabled and the elderly have a pretty good case for discrimination here, unless Texas plans to send a representative to the home of each and every voter in order to supply IDs to those who do not have them. The disabled can’t just get in their pickups and drive to the nearest DMV to get their picture taken. Most of them don't have pickups to drive.

While the Obama/Holder DOJ has been soft on war criminals, they have been more thorough when it comes to election law. Just a few days ago, a bunch of Republicans were sentenced to jail for e-vote fraud in Kentucky.

http://www.bradblog.com/?p=8514

In 2009, a spate of high-ranking election officials in Clay County, KY --- including the County Clerk, a Circuit Court Judge, the School Superintendent, a former Magistrate, and several polling place officials --- were arrested in a massive vote buying/selling and electronic vote-machine rigging conspiracy which netted the criminals millions of dollars over the past decade. The federal charges included the County Clerk and other members of the Board of Elections having intentionally falsified election reports to include inaccurate voting results when submitted to the state.

One Republican election official pleaded guilty after the arrest two years ago, and the other eight were found guilty and convicted last year in federal court. They were sentenced this past March to a total of more than 1,871 months in federal prison.

(Please, Bradblog, don’t….no. I don’t think Bradblog is in the extortion racket)

With E-vote fraud now a scary proposition for the average local GOPer, states like Texas are counting on Poll Taxes---aka Voter ID laws----to help them thwart the will of the electorate in 2012, when a whole bunch of Obama supporters are likely to go to the polls to give their man a big thumbs up----and help out Democrats at the bottom of the ballot.That is why Voter ID laws are so popular this year. Places like Missouri will be able to pass their laws and see them go into effect until the SCOTUS overturns them. (Oh please, Justice Kennedy, save us!)

http://writ.news.findlaw.com/commentary/20090429_citron.html

Places like Texas do not have that privilege, because of their long and on-going history of discriminatory voting laws. Texas may think it just passed a Poll Tax for the 21st Century, but Rick Perry is not the one who will decide. That honor goes to the Justice Department’s Voting Rights division. And I don’t see them voting to authorize a poll tax in Texas anytime soon.

[AndyTiedye]

1. K/R

The Republicans are planning to steal next year's election, one state at a time.

They control 27 states with a total of 270 electoral votes.
If they can "deliver" those states, the Repigs win, no matter who the candidate is.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x1012123

[madrchsod]

2. it would be nice if the justice dept. would look into this.

it`s a coordinated attack on the voting rights of the american people.

[TxVietVet]

3. Welcome to Texas and it's one party rule.

If they don't get their way with the Obama/Holder DOJ, they will get tighty whities all bunched up. Now, they are redistricting Texas to dilute the minority vote as much as possible, which is probably illegal also.

Texas is now under one party control and they are having their way with the destruction of the education system and anything that appears to benefit the poor and elderly.

"Texas has the best damned democracy that conservanazi money can buy!" Bigbux Doug

[lbrtbell]

4. Here's what I don't understand

People are objecting to this because supposedly poor people don't have photo ID.

The lawmakers are preying on middle-class ignorance of how poor people really live, to distract from bigger issues, like intimidation.

Speaking from experience (applying for disability, and speaking at length to caseworkers), I know you must have photo ID to get food stamps, disability, or any benefits from any programs for the poor. Paperwork for a loan is a piece of cake, compared to applying for assistance. You have to provide so much information, from showing your birth certificate and photo ID to giving them contact info for your landlord (no embarrassment there, right?).

The issue isn't that poor people don't have photo ID...the issue is, we need to encourage poor people to vote. There might be intimidation factor from these laws, but if someone's getting food stamps or any other benefit, they have photo ID. We just have to make sure that poor people know that, if they're getting benefits, they already are qualified to vote--just get out there and vote.

[McCamy Taylor]

5. Many poor folks do not apply for or get benefits in this country. They still have a right to vote.

However, one of the GOPs lines is that the poor do not deserve to vote because they are a drain on society via their benefits. This is, of course, bullshit (pardon my French). We all contribute to society in our own way, and it does not have to be an economic contribution to count.

I wonder about a reference to "benefits" (i.e. welfare) in a thread about the economic injustice of a Poll Tax. There is a myth that America takes good care of its most unfortunate citizens. There is a myth that America cares more than it should for its most unfortunate citizens. Both of these myths are just that---myths. However, the GOP will attempt to excuse their new Poll Tax on the grounds that the poor already have too much clout and this law is just making the playing field level for the billionaires.

[GReedDiamond]

6. What I do not get about Republicans asserting "voter fraud"...

...is, how is it supposed to actually happen?

When I used to vote in person at a polling station (I vote by mail now), I was never asked for ID, just my name.

As a registered voter, my name and address were listed in a big log book.

I'd walk up to the poll worker with the log book, tell the poll worker my name, and the poll worker would find the page with my name on it, draw a line through it, and I would then be issued a ballot. (I think I signed the book, too, IIRC.)

So, therefore, showing ID was not necessary, because, how would an impostor be able to pose as me, or anybody else, in order to actually obtain a ballot? How would such an impostor know whose names were in the book? It makes no kinda sense whatsoever.

That leaves voter fraud (supposedly) being perpetrated on a mass level by variously illegally registered persons, out-of-district voters who register with addresses where they don't actually live (like, uhmm, Ann Coulter), dead people who still vote, "illegal aliens," etc, which are, in fact, quite rare instances and have little, if any, documented impact on election outcomes, at least over the last twenty years or so that I'm aware of.

On the other hand, electoral fraud by various means, such as, corporately/privately owned rigged voting machines and systems, voter disenfranchisement (such as requiring photo ID), "caging," etc, perpetrated by Republicans, has been clearly shown to be happening in almost every major election since at least the 2000 Bush selection.

Once again, when Republicans whine about something, it is something THEY are guilty of, classic "projection."

Edited for spelling.

[RagAss]

7. Meh....Texas.

[999998th word]

8. One more state RW's will suppress the vote.Not good.

[999998th word]

9. I hope Obama has a plan

and can prevent this.

[blackspade]

11. Unlikely.

[blackspade]

10. Excellent OP.

[Overseas]

12. Sad K&R.