by Michael Handley and Linda Magid
Texas State Senator Wendy Davis attended the Texas Democratic Party Kick-Off Reception last Thursday night to celebrate the beginning of the State Democratic Convention for 2012.
Senator Davis had only earlier been deposed for the Texas Voter Photo I.D. case currently before the federal Washington DC Circuit Court.
When we spoke with Senator Davis at the reception she shared that lawyers for the Photo I.D. law tried to imply that because citizens of Texas want the law that it should be allowed.
It will come as no surprise that Davis refused to agree to that logic, stating that legislators are responsible to ensure that no laws are discriminatory and that the Texas Voter I.D. law that passed last year was clearly discriminatory.
Legislation passed by the Republican controlled Texas Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Perry in 2011 (SB 14) requires that voters present one of a select and limited group of government issued photo I.D., which over 30% of some voting groups do not hold, before casting a ballot.
Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, the Justice Department or a federal court is required to pre-clear laws affecting voters before they go into effect in jurisdictions with a history of voting discrimination -- and that includes Texas. The Texas Secretary of State’s (TxSOS) office made the preclearance filing for SB 14 to the U.S. Department Justice (USDOJ) on July 25, 2011. The state’s voter I.D. law is on hold awaiting review from a D.C. Circuit Court.