The Voter ID Bill was given emergency status by Gov. Perry due to the fact he had tried unsuccessfully for 6 years to get the bill passed, but this year both houses were under GOP control thus he was able to ram the bill through. This Voter ID Bill requires a voter to have one of the following photo IDs: driver's license, state ID, military ID, CHL, passport, or citizenship ID. The reasoning for the bill is to limit the amount of voter impersonation/voter fraud, although there have been few actual cases of this happening.
Even though I am a more liberal leaning voter, I do not neccessarily diasgree with the bill, but I do think other issues should have been taken care of before this bill was even debated. Issues such as the huge budget shortfall which will affect education, social services and other areas of the state government should have taken priority. The TX GOP pushing this bill through the way they did is similar to waxing your car while it is raining. I mean, what's the point? Since there have been very few instances of voter fraud, why even make this such a big issue? Because apparently Democratic voters tend to include the poor and minorities...two groups of people who are likely not to have a valid current photo ID. Thus Dems will have that many less votes to count on.
All in all this is just another ploy by the party in power (the GOP) to rule the nest as they wish. Democrats would surely push through some legislation if there were in power (i.e. the national house/senate in last years healthcare reform). As the balances of power sway, so too do the issues brought to the forefront of congressional legislation.
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ReplyDeleteHonestly. Why Wait Any Longer?
ReplyDeleteAn article posted on the Democrat Stuck In The Middle of Redland blog, written by author R. James Anderson entitled My thoughts on voter ID, voices his views on why the Voter ID bill took precedence over other important issues, stating that “other issues should have been taken care of before this bill was even debated. Issues such as the huge budget shortfall which will affect education, social services and other areas of the state government should have taken priority.”
First of all, just a bit of information that should be known. The Voter ID issue was such a hot topic for the Lege that ten voter ID bills were originally introduced requiring voters to show a photo ID to vote.
Although Mr. Anderson stated that he did not necessarily disagree with the bill, let’s try to address his concerns of why this bill was in such a high demand to pass.
The author stated that “The Voter ID Bill was given emergency status by Gov. Perry due to the fact he had tried unsuccessfully for 6 years to get the bill passed, but this year both houses were under GOP control thus he was able to ram the bill through.” This statement is true but to say that this was not as important as the other issues previously mentioned, not so true. For example, Mr. Anderson stated that “Since there have been very few instances of voter fraud, why even make this such a big issue?” An article in The Monitor informs us that this is actually not the case and voter fraud is on the rise, especially in South Texas. Not only has this been rampant amongst actual voters but candidates as well.
More states are moving to ensure the integrity of our voting process by requiring photo IDs, not as part of a devious plot to discourage voting, but because voter fraud is a real problem. And it’s a problem that voters want solved.
Photo IDs have become ubiquitous and unavoidable. You can’t cash a check, board a plane or drive without one. That is why it’s not unreasonable to require picture identification to protect our most important privilege of citizenship. They are a reasonable way to secure our elections. Why wait to put it in force?
As we know, this bill had been a long time in the making. Why prolong the inevitable any longer? It’s been way too long as it is.
Mr. Anderson, even though I love the great State of Texas, as I am sure you and many others do, sometimes things just don’t move as fast as they should, almost at a snail’s pace and definitely not as quick as an Armadillo. Maybe it’s just the heat.