With weakened voter ID law, questions still remain

Local election officials are awaiting clarification on the weakened voter ID law that will be used during the Nov. 8 election.
County Clerk Melody Appleton said today she is awaiting clarification from the Texas Secretary of State’s office on how the temporary fix will be handled by election judges.
On Wednesday, the state agreed to weaken its voter ID law, which federal courts have said discriminated against minorities and the poor and left more than 600,000 registered voters potentially unable to cast a ballot.
The state worked fast to soften the law before November’s election, moving from requiring voters to show one of seven forms of suitable ID — a list that included concealed handgun permits, but not college IDs — to letting those without such an ID to sign an affidavit. That will allow them to cast a regular full ballot, and their vote will be counted.
The proposed changes would also require registered voters to present a certified birth certificate, utility bill, bank statement, a paycheck or a government document to prove proof of residence.
Election officials would be prohibited from questioning a voter’s inability to obtain an ID under the Texas law, according to the Associated Press.
Appleton said voters will still have to be registered and be on the county’s voter roll before casting ballot. She said there were no problems in the past with people presenting the state-required IDs.
“We have never had a problem,” she said, adding that if a person did not have an ID prior to voting they would leave and return with the proper ID.
She said that is one of the things that will need to be clarified — can a person vote who has an ID, but forgot to bring it to the election site by just signing the affidavit.
“People without a photo ID will continue to be able to vote,” said Sen. Charles Perry, who helped author the Texas voter ID law as a freshman member of the Texas House. “They will be required to sign an affidavit and if after an audit the state finds they are not citizens, they will be criminally prosecuted. It’s important that Texas has clear voter integrity laws in place and there will be a remedy in place to fix the voter laws in 2017.”
Texas must also spend at least $2.5 million on voter outreach before November, according to the agreement submitted to U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, who must still approve the changes.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton signaled the fight wasn’t over despite the compromise for this election year and didn’t rule out eventually going to the U.S. Supreme Court.
“This case is not over,” Paxton spokesman Marc Rylander said. He said the law has wide support in Texas to defend the integrity of elections.
In 2014, Gonzales Ramos accepted findings from opponents that more than 600,000 Texas voters lacked a suitable ID under the law, which is 4.5 percent of all registered voters in the state.
The compromise far from ends the legal battle over the Texas voter ID law. The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals also wants the lower court to review whether Texas passed the restrictions with the intention of discriminating against minorities.