Lt. Governor David Dewhurst is making sure that a divisive highly partisan Republican agenda item, photo Voter ID legislation, takes precedence over substantive issues that directly affect Texans. Clay Robison of the Houston Chronicle recently reported that Dewhurst is shopping around a so-called photo Voter ID “compromise,” suggesting that Democrats should cut a deal if the bill included the same kind of age limitation that Republicans stripped from similar legislation in 2007. The problem with Dewhurst’s “deal” is obvious: neither he nor his fellow Republicans have produced a shred of evidence indicating there is systematic voter fraud in Texas that would be remedied by a photo Voter ID requirement. They also have failed to substantively refute clear evidence that a voter photo ID bill would create hardships and erect barriers to participation by law-abiding Texas citizens.Tough talk on phony issue
Dallas Morning News Headline Dewhurst’s claim that photo Voter ID is necessary is a dishonest echo of the national Republican Party’s attempt to use a phony voter fraud agenda as a prop to divide citizens and reduce voter turnout. During the 2007 legislative session, Voter ID supporters could not document a single case of voter impersonation at the polling place, the only kind of voter fraud that would be addressed by a photo ID bill. As the Houston Chronicle noted in a 2007 editorial, “legislation requiring Texas voters to present extensive identification would create far more problems than it would solve.”
- Exaggerated voter fraud claims are proven false when investigated. Just before the 2008 election, a so-called watchdog group claimed “6,000 dead people could vote,” but an investigation by the Dallas County Elections Office and the Dallas Morning News found no voter fraud and instead identified 48 clerical errors where a worker had mistakenly marked or coded voter rolls incorrectly.
- Voter ID laws disenfranchise Texas citizens who go to the polls with a valid voter registration card to vote. In 2006, the non-partisan Brennan Center for Justice found that 25% of African American citizens, 18% of citizens 65 and over, and 15% of voters earning under $35,000/year don’t have a government-issued photo ID.
- Voter ID laws suppress turnout. A Rutgers-Ohio St. University study of the 2004 election prepared for the bipartisan Federal Election Assistance Commission showed that states with voter I.D. laws experienced a 3% turnout reduction, a figure that reached 5.7% among African Americans and 10% among Hispanics.
- Nationally, the Department of Justice secured less than 100 voter fraud convictions out of over 270 million votes cast during a DOJ “voter fraud crackdown.”(Brennan Center report)
Weak-Kneed On Issues that Really Matter
Meanwhile, time and again during his 10 years as a statewide office holder, David Dewhurst has collapsed to pressure from the insurance industry, utility companies and other special interests and catered to their wishes while failing to adequately address the important issues most important to Texas families.
In a January 2008 speech to the Texas Association of Business, Dewhurst said a 2006 school finance plan was “highly successful, probably the best school finance bill that we have ever passed.” That Republican plan froze all school funds at their 2006 level leaving Texas schools $5 billion short of keeping up with inflation and enrollment growth, according to non-partisan experts. (Houston Chronicle, January 17, 2008)
The National Institute of Insurance Commissioners reports that Texas homeowners pay twice the national average for insurance coverage, yet Dewhurst sits silently as Texans pay some of the nation’s highest rate.
On Dewhurst’s watch, the four largest Texas power companies have raised their rates 83.7%. (Electric Competition Report, Texas PUC, October 07)
In 2003, Dewhurst supported the plan to cut over 200,000 kids off Children’s Health Insurance (CHIP) (Austin American Statesman, August 25, 2004), and in 2007, despite a budget surplus, he threatened a plan to restore health care to just half of those kids until the closing days of the session. (Dallas Morning News, May 18, 2007)
Suspicious Timing
It’s no accident that Dewhurst is bringing up Voter ID now. State Senate Committee assignments are made by the Lt. Governor in January. Clearly, he believes that this provides an opportunity to use plum committee assignments as leverage to get a Voter ID deal with Democrats. Most likely, Dewhurst is underestimating his Democratic colleagues’ resolve. Texas Senate Democrats stood firm against vote suppression in the past, and Senator Mario Gallegos has been heroic in his opposition. Also, Democrats picked up another Senate seat when Fort Worth’s Wendy Davis defeated Republican incumbent Kim Brimer.
Make no mistake, Dewhurst’s Voter Photo ID efforts are a clear sign that vote suppression remains a key priority and favored tactic of Republicans who seek to avoid meaningful change and cling to political power in Texas
