Ginsburg Was Right: Texas' Extreme Voter ID Law Is Stopping People From Voting

Ginsburg Was Right: Texas' Extreme Voter ID Law Is Stopping People From Voting

WASHINGTON -- A Texas voter ID law considered to be one of the most restrictive in the country is doing exactly what Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg warned it would do: stopping Americans from voting.

A disabled woman in Travis County was turned away from voting because she couldn’t afford to pay her parking tickets. An IHOP dishwasher from Mercedes can’t afford the cost of getting a new birth certificate, which he would need to obtain the special photo ID card required for voting. A student at a historically black college in Marshall, who registered some of her fellow students to vote, won't be able to cast a ballot herself because her driver's license isn't from Texas and the state wouldn't accept her student identification card.

There are plenty of stories like this coming out of Texas in the early voting period leading up to Election Day. Texas' tough voter ID law, signed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2011, requires voters to show one of seven types of photo identification. Concealed handgun licenses are allowed, but college student IDs are not, nor are driver’s licenses that have been expired for more than sixty days.

The law has been the subject of an extensive legal battle, with a federal court finding it unconstitutional earlier this month. But the Supreme Court then rejected an emergency request to put the law on hold for the upcoming election. Ginsburg authored a blistering dissent to that decision, calling the law an "unconstitutional poll tax.” The ruling marked the first time in 32 years that the Supreme Court allowed a law restricting voting rights to be implemented after a federal court ruled it unconstitutional for targeting minorities, according to SCOTUSblog.

The early voting period is still going on in Texas, but voters and election officials told The Huffington Post there have already been problems casting ballots due to the new restrictive measure. Under the law, Texans without acceptable forms of identification must go to a driver’s license office to get a voting card. In Austin, 45-year-old Eric Kennie, who hasn't set foot outside the state his whole life, couldn't get his card because the birth certificate he struggled to afford lists his mother's maiden name. In Houston, an election judge claims that a 93-year-old veteran was turned away from the polls because his driver's license had been expired for too long. Another 62-year-old woman told MSNBC that she was threatened with jail time when she went to obtain her voter ID because she was driving with a California license.

Dana DeBeauvoir, the clerk responsible for overseeing election conduct in Travis County, which has over one million people and includes the city of Austin, said she spoke this week to a 61-year-old disabled woman, Madeleine, who was “in tears” because she was turned away when she went to vote at a grocery store.

The low-income woman is on a payment plan with a court to pay off her parking tickets, DeBeauvoir said, and while she’s on the plan, her license is suspended. Now, Madeleine has to quickly get to a driver’s license office to get a voting card. Her disability qualifies her to vote by mail, but she missed that deadline because she didn’t know her license would be denied.

”She’s been voting every year since the day 18-year-olds got the right to vote, and now suddenly she finds out she’s lost her right to vote because of money,” DeBeauvoir said. “If she had money, she could just pay off the tickets [and] vote.”

DeBeauvoir noted that people who don’t have proper identification are offered a provisional ballot. After Election Day, voters only have six days to come back in and show identification, otherwise the ballot doesn’t count. So far, the county has received about twenty provisional ballots a day. It’s not clear yet how many of those are due to ID issues, but DeBeauvoir has heard stories from “older people who were born at home, disabled people who don't drive, who don't have the proper identification, and yet still want to vote.”

Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, manager of legal mobilization and strategic campaigns for the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, said she’d heard reports from people who have been afraid to get voter IDs because they’re worried the government will run their traffic records and they’ll have to pay tickets on the spot. The driver’s license offices are “not supposed to do that,” she said, “but there has been this hesitation.”

Jesus Garcia, 40, was born in Texas. He has his voter card as well as an expired form of photo identification that works just fine for most purposes. But under the Texas law, that isn't enough proof, because his ID has been expired for too long. Getting another form of identification is difficult because his birth certificate, along with his wallet, was stolen about a year ago.

"I'm barely working, I don't have enough money to get my ID," Garcia, who works as a dishwasher at an IHOP restaurant, told HuffPost. He would have to pay roughly $30 to obtain a new copy of his birth certificate and a new card, according to the Brennan Center for Justice. Garcia has made two trips to the Department of Public Safety to obtain an identification card, but has been unsuccessful. He believes the law was passed to make it more difficult for people like him to vote.

"If I had money to go get my birth certificate and all that, I wouldn't be having trouble right now," Garcia said. "But like I said, money's down."

Krystal Watson is a student at Wiley College, a historically black college in Marshall, Texas. She voted here before the new restrictions were enacted, and even registered fellow students to vote. But she didn't realize until recently that the restrictions would prevent her from casting a ballot this year because she has an out-of-state license. When she showed up to vote early, she found herself facing off with the same person who had deputized her to register voters.

"She told me I couldn't vote, and I really didn't get it. I was like, 'What's the problem? I meet all the requirements,'" Watson said. "I don't know how many people would go somewhere and get told no and just quit at that moment."

Watson said she doesn't think she'll be able to vote this year, and says she thinks the law was put in place to keep certain kinds of people from voting.

"Marshall is a really small town -- I mean, they still have Confederate flags when I pull into school," Watson said. "So it is a bit racist, but in the community of Wiley College, it's a diverse community."

Christina Sanders, state director for the Texas League of Young Voters Education Fund, said that her group has interacted with about half a dozen people at two voting locations in predominantly African-American and Latino neighborhoods in Houston who have been turned away because of the new law. The group hasn't done a final count, however, since people are still voting provisionally.

Voting experts say that people willing to speak out about voting troubles make up only a small percentage of the total number of Texans being disenfranchised. The majority may simply give up and go home. As Ginsburg predicted, the law “risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands."

Before You Go

Florida-2
Bill Clark via Getty Images
Rep. Steve Southerland (R) has come under fire for holding a fundraiser for only men, obfuscating his record on violence against women legislation and making bizarre comments about lingerie. Democrats feel good about their nominee, attorney Gwen Graham. She is the daughter of Bob Graham, a popular former Democratic governor and senator.
Nebraska-2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rep. Lee Terry (R) and his Democratic challenger, Brad Ashford, are locked in a tight race in this Omaha-area district. Democrats have been hitting Terry over his comments on how he could not "handle" giving up his pay during last year's government shutdown because he felt he needed to maintain his "nice house and a kid in college."
Arizona-2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rep. Ron Barber (D) was injured during the Tucson, Arizona, attack that also wounded his boss, then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.). That legacy may not be enough to protect him from a GOP challenge by retired Air Force combat pilot Martha McSally. Americans for Responsible Solutions PAC, the gun-control group founded by Giffords and her husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, has been running ads targeting McSally in the hope of keeping Giffords' former seat in Democratic hands.
Arizona-1
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick (D) faces a tough challenge in this swingy rural district, which she won in 2008 and then lost in 2010, only to win back in 2012. Though Arizona state House Speaker Andy Tobin (R) has trailed Kirkpatrick in fundraising, conservative outside groups have jumped into the race. Kirkpatrick's re-election may hinge on support from Native Americans, who make up 25 percent of the district's population.In contrast with other vulnerable Democratic incumbents, Kirkpatrick has defended, rather than fled from, the Affordable Care Act.
California-52
Carl DeMaio (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Former San Diego City Councilman Carl DeMaio, who is challenging freshman Rep. Scott Peters (D), could become the first openly gay Republican elected to Congress in November. The race between DeMaio and Peters is considered one of the true toss-ups of this election cycle. Peters has been emphasizing his business-friendly policies (he was one of only a handful of Democrats to have been endorsed by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce), while DeMaio is emphasizing his socially moderate stances.
West Virginia-3
Nick Rahall (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Rep. Nick Rahall (D) is considered vulnerable because of the heavy amount of spending from conservative outside groups in his Republican-leaning district. Despite his attempts to put distance between himself and the Democratic Party, and his longtime representation of the district (he was first elected in 1976), Rahall may finally fall to state Sen. Evan Jenkins (R), who used to be a Democrat.
New Hampshire-1
ASSOCIATED PRESS
This is the third time Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (D) and former Rep. Frank Guinta (R-N.H.) have faced each other in the Granite State. Shea-Porter has been put on the defensive over the Affordable Care Act, while Democrats have accused Guinta of being too conservative for the district.
Minnesota-8
Rick Nolan (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Rep. Rick Nolan (D) faces a well-financed challenger in Republican businessman Stewart Mills. Democrats are attempting to paint Mills as privileged and out-of-touch as they try to hold the seat.
Illinois-10
Bob Dold (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
This year's race is a rematch between former Rep. Bob Dold (R-Ill.) and Rep. Brad Schneider (D). Republicans are optimistic about their chances, given the unpopularity of Gov. Pat Quinn (D).
Cailfornia-7
Ami Bera (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
First-term physician Rep. Ami Bera (D) is defending his seat against former Rep. Doug Ose (R-Calif.). Republicans have worked to tie Bera to Democrats in Congress, while Bera has insisted that he maintains distance from the party.
Florida-26
Joe Garcia (ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Rep. Joe Garcia (D) faces a strong challenge from Miami-Dade School Board member Carlos Curbelo (R). To cast Curbelo as too extreme for the district, Garcia's campaign has been running ads that highlight Curbelo's comments calling Social Security and Medicare a "Ponzi scheme."
New York-21
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With the retirement of Rep. Bill Owens (D), Republican former White House aide Elise Stefanik could become the youngest woman ever elected to Congress. She is the favorite to take the seat over former filmmaker and organic grocery store owner Aaron Woolf (D).
New Jersey-3
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former insurance executive and former Randolph Mayor Tom MacArthur (R) and Burlington County Freeholder and attorney Aimee Belgard (D) are vying to succeed retiring Rep. Jon Runyan (R) in this competitive race. Belgard is considered the underdog, given MacArthur's ability to self-fund his campaign.
California-31
Paul Chabot (Congressional Quarterly via Getty Images)
California's 31st is one of the most Democratic districts in the country to be currently held by a Republican, retiring Rep. Gary Miller. But Democrats are nervous that low turnout could hurt their nominee, Redlands Mayor Pete Aguilar, against retired Navy officer and businessman Paul Chabot (R).
Maine-2
ASSOCIATED PRESS
State Sen. Emily Cain (D) and tea-party-backed businessman and former Maine Treasurer Bruce Poliquin (R) are engaged in a tight race in the district held by Rep. Michael Michaud (D), who is running for governor.Though Cain recently picked up the endorsement of independent U.S. Sen. Angus King, she has trailed Poliquin in recent polls.
Colorado-6
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Rep. Mike Coffman's (R) chances against former Colorado House Speaker Andrew Romanoff (D) are looking better than they did earlier in the cycle.Coffman has disavowed his former support for personhood initiatives, which would grant fetuses full legal rights from the moment of fertilization, in an effort to neutralize Democratic attacks over reproductive rights. He has also begun learning Spanish to better appeal to the district's significant Latino population.
Illinois-12
Bill Enyart (Bill Clark via Getty Images)
Rep. Bill Enyart (D) may be dragged down by the unpopularity of Gov. Pat Quinn (D). The freshman congressman faces a challenge from state Rep. Mike Bost (R). Democrats have dubbed Bost "Meltdown Mike" in ads, highlighting his outbursts and temper tantrums during state legislative sessions.
New York-11
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Embattled Rep. Michael Grimm (R) may still prevail against former New York City Councilman Domenic M. Recchia Jr., his Democratic challenger. Despite Grimm's 20-count federal indictment and his well-publicized threat to throw a reporter off a congressional balcony, he remains well-liked in the Staten Island-based district. Democrats are spending heavily to boost Recchia and paint Grimm as too volatile.
New York-1
Lee Zeldin (Tom Williams via Getty Images)
New York state Sen. Lee Zeldin (R) is mounting a tough challenge to Rep. Timothy Bishop (D) in this Long Island-based district.Democrats are calling Zeldin too extreme on women's issues, while Republican outside groups are hitting Bishop over his support for the Affordable Care Act. Zeldin's candidacy has attracted attention since he's a Jewish Republican. He could replace former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), who suffered a shocking loss in his primary earlier this year, as the only non-Christian Republican in Congress.
Iowa-3
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Former Iowa state Sen. Staci Appel (D) and Sen. Chuck Grassley's (R-Iowa) former chief of staff David Young are locked in a close race to succeed retiring Rep. Tom Latham (R). If elected, Appel or state Sen. Joni Ernst (R), who is running for the U.S. Senate, could become the first woman to represent the state in Congress.

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