After several hours of sometimes angry debate, the Texas House late last night approved a Voter ID bill which supporters hope will win approval from the federal courts, News Radio 1200 WOAI reports.
This bill is far less restrictive than a Voter ID bill which was approved in 2013, only to be thrown out by a federal judge in Corpus Christi who called it 'intentionally discriminatory' against minority voters.
State Rep. Rafael Anchia (D-Dallas) says this one is going down the same path.
"Because if this was about expanding the franchise, trying to increase the number of voters, trying to get us out of last place in the country in terms of voter turnout, we would have a larger list of IDs," he said.
The measure which was approved on a party line vote will expand the number of photo IDs that will be accepted to vote, but State Rep. Richard Pena Raymond (D-Laredo) said the list has to be even larger.
"So when every one of you Republicans votes against this (amendment to increase the number of acceptable IDs), this will make our case that this is about voter suppression," he said.
Anchia, Raymond, and other Democrats wanted to expand the list of acceptable IDs to include college IDs, tribal IDs, even IDs which are issued by private organizations, as long as they include the person's photograph and basic information.
The law, as passed, would allow voters without a photo ID to cast a ballot by showing an alternative form of ID, like a utility bill, and sign a statement, under threat of prosecution for perjury, that there is a good reason why the voter doesn't have a photo ID. The measure also adds a new category of crime, the class A misdemeanor of 'intentionally making a false statement or providing false information on the declaration.'
"Governor Abbott is alarmed because the chickens are coming home to roost," said State Rep. Eddie Rodriguez (D-Austin). "The intentionally discriminatory voter ID law and redistricting maps he championed as attorney general have been ruled against by federal courts numerous times, raising the specter of a reinstated 'pre-clearence requirement'."
The federal judge in Corpus Christi, who ruled against the previous Texas Voter ID law, raised the specter that the federal court may reinstate the 'pre-clearence requirement' that Texas worked under for nearly fifty years, until it was thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court, when it restricted the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in 2011.
The law required any changes made by Texas having anything do with with voting, from adjusting districts and changing the form of ballots, to first be 'pre-cleared' by the U.S. Department of Justice due to the state's history of discrimination.