Texas House Approves Measure to Require Photo ID to Vote
The Texas House of Representatives has approved legislation to help ensure the integrity of the ballot by requiring photo identification to vote.
House Bill 218, joint-authored by State Representative Dwayne Bohac, (R-Houston), requires all voters show a photo ID to vote. The bill allows a voter to show multiple forms of identification including a driver’s license, a state-approved ID, employee ID and others. In addition to this flexibility those, who cannot afford a State of Texas ID can get one free of charge.
A recent poll by Austin based Baselice and Associates conducted April 2007 showed that 87 percent of Texans support voter ID, a result that remains consistent across all socio-economic, political and ethnic lines.
A bipartisan commission on federal election reforms co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker found that, “The electoral system cannot inspire public confidence if no safeguards exist to deter or detect fraud or to confirm the identity of voters. Photo IDs currently are need to board a plane, enter a federal building, and cash a check. Voting is equally important.”
Currently, seven states have photo ID laws - Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Louisiana, Ohio, and South Dakota.
The United States Supreme Court’s Per Curiam opinion regarding Arizona’s Photo ID law found, “Confidence in the integrity of our electoral process is essential to the functioning of our participatory democracy. Voter fraud drives the honest citizens out of the democratic process and breeds distrust of our government. Voters who fear their legitimate votes will be outweighed by fraudulent ones will feel disenfranchised.”
“Having served as vice chairman on the House Committee on Elections we have heard consistent testimony that requiring voters to show ID will improve voter confidence and provide greater piece of mind that a good vote will not be cancelled by an illegal vote,” Bohac commented.
The measure will soon move to the Texas Senate floor for debate.