Texas Voter ID Law

In reading Jess’ post against the Texas’ voter ID law that has received federal scrutiny, I instead found myself in favor of such a law. Jess begins her argument with the rhetorical question, that if the government wants more people to vote “then why is Texas making voting more difficult?” to which I can give a number of not so rhetorical answers. Such as the fact that Texas’ elections are plagued by voter fraud—a problem the law aims to limit. And as according to USA Today--that history actually shows “voter turnout has increased after voter ID laws were enacted, and because Texas provides voter ID cards free of charge, no Texan's voting rights will be affected.”

The post then continues onto pointing out the fact that the proposed required IDs are restricted to “particular government issued cards which excludes even student IDs.” However, is it so hard to see why non-government issued IDs, such as student ones that could be fraudulent, are not acceptable as proof of identity to vote in government held elections? Jess then continues on to say that “all citizens do not have IDs and would be penalized” under the law, which is a fair statement. However, in Texas can you not obtain a suitable ID at the DMV, where you already register to even be able to vote? In answering such a question, you find that by no means is Texas asking too much of its voters, especially considering Texas is well within its constitutional rights in seeking to identify its voters for the sole reason of ensuring the integrity of elections.

Jess’ post finishes with the idea that the ID law prevents “minorities from taking part in the voting process” since the “highest percentages of people without IDs are within such minorities.” Which is an idea I hold to be irrelevant, and see more so as an attempt used by those opposed to the ID law to use racial discrimination in their favor. As well as the fact that the statement Jess makes fails to note, that the minority groups who have a higher percentage of people without IDs, also have a comparably high percentage of members who are not eligible to vote, which is why such an argument among other reasons is irrelevant.