Voter ID bill delayed
Dewhurst says it could come up again
By Mark Lisheron

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Saturday, May 19, 2007

Just days after Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst faced off with Senate Democrats over a bill requiring identification to vote, Dewhurst agreed not to hear the bill Friday out of respect for an ill senator.

But he didn't rule out the possibility that the bill would come up later.

Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr., D- Houston, who returned to the Senate after months of convalescence following a liver transplant, left Austin for medical tests in Houston. Gallegos, who had come back before his doctor thought it safe, might not be back before the session ends May 28, according to a staffer.

A prolonged absence by Gallegos doesn't mean that Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, who is carrying House Bill 218, will not again try to bring voter identification to the Senate floor.

"If Sen. Fraser has the votes, I imagine he will consider bringing it
up," Dewhurst told reporters during a recess Friday. "This is a good
bill."

On Tuesday, the last time Fraser stood to introduce the Voter ID bill,

surprised Democrats, staunch and unified opponents, scrambled to delay a vote to suspend Senate rules to allow debate.

After a roll call that gave Fraser the necessary two-thirds majority for a hearing, Sen. John Whitmire, D-Houston, angrily demanded his vote be counted.

Dewhurst allowed a second vote, including Whitmire's, and Democrats had the necessary 11 of 31 votes to block discussion of the bill.

Dewhurst and Republicans believe that voters in Texas ought to be able to prove who they are to cast a vote. Democrats have said they think the bill is a Republican tactic to make it harder to vote for people of little means who might not have identification