JABIII on Texas photo voter ID.
By JAMES A. BAKER, III
Texas officials could have saved taxpayers millions of dollars in legal fees and spared themselves a bitter political battle had they followed bipartisan advice about how to implement a voter ID requirement that was recently ruled illegal.
In a 9-6 decision last week, the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower federal court ruling that the state's 2011 photo ID requirement violated the federal Voting Rights Act prohibiting racial discrimination in elections.
The decision did not declare that the state's requirement that voters present a valid photo ID was unconstitutional on its face. The U.S. Supreme Court, after all, has already ruled that Indiana's ID requirement has passed constitutional muster. Instead, the appeals court essentially directed the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas to find a way to accommodate those in Texas who don't have an ID required for voting in this state.
In 2014, the lower court found that 600,000 Texas voters - about 4.5 percent of all registered voters in Texas - did not have one of seven forms of ID as required by the law. The court ruled that a remedy must be in place for the November elections.
As too often is the case in American politics, voter ID laws have become a hot-button wedge issue. In Texas, with one of the nation's most stringent voter ID laws, the political lines have hardened between Republicans who want restrictive ID requirements and Democrats who oppose all photo ID requirements.
With partisan squabbling shouting down bipartisan problem-solving, Texans missed an opportunity for striking a middle ground that protects the interests of both sides.
In 2005, such an approach was recommended by the bipartisan Commission on Federal Election Reform, which President Jimmy Carter and I co-chaired, that recommended a common-sense approach to voter IDs.
First, the commission concluded that the concerns of both sides were legitimate - free-and-fair elections require both ballot integrity and full access to all voters. These are hallmarks of democracy.
We then offered a proposal to bridge the partisan divide by suggesting a uniform voter photo ID, based on the federal Real ID Act of 2005, that was to be phased in over five years. Further, we said, states should assume the responsibility of seeking citizens to both register as voters and provide them with free IDs that meet those federal standards.
By connecting the issuance of IDs to registration, voting participation could be expanded, guaranteeing that more Americans have a direct say in the selection of their elected officials.
To help with the transition, states would provide free voter photo ID cards for eligible citizens as mobile units would be sent out to provide the IDs and register voters. Subsequently, the Department of Homeland Security delayed putting in place the Real ID Act, suggesting that states move to photo ID requirements gradually and ensure that free photo IDs are easily available.
Some states have followed that path in recent years as voter ID laws spread across the country. Unfortunately in 2011, Texas legislators - Republicans and Democrats alike - did not follow the commission's recommendation that states be proactive in getting a free ID card into every voter's hand. Instead, they preferred to battle along the intractable lines of either supporting a law that was too harsh or opposing any change at all.
Five years later, the result is a legal mess that has officials scrambling for a solution to the recent appellate court decision.
In the short run, a compromise has been reached for a special election in Bexar County, where early voting started this past Tuesday. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos worked out an agreement with plaintiffs and defendants that allows voters to use other forms of IDs, such as a valid voter registration certificate, a current utility bill, a current bank statement or a government document. Absent such an ID, voters can cast a provisional vote during the special election.
It is unclear what will happen in the long run. The political gamesmanship in Austin could continue. But far better would be for Republicans and Democrats to work together during the 2017 Texas Legislature to reform the voter ID law in ways that guarantee ballot security but also make more easily available a uniform photo ID that voters can use at the polls.
Ending the rancorous partisan battle over voter IDs will give Texans more time to find solutions to the myriad of pressing problems that challenge our state
