Thread: House plans 2-day voter ID hearing

House plans 2-day voter ID hearing
Democrat works on compromise that would soften impact.
By W. Gardner Selby




Friday, March 27, 2009

Anyone interested in testifying about the voter ID legislation that is awaiting House review will probably get a chance — in daylight, this time.

Meanwhile, a West Texas representative is working on a compromise plan that could spare the House from a partisan bloodbath.


Rep. Todd Smith, chairman of the House Committee on Elections, wants that panel to hear invited testimony April 6, with members of the public welcome to speak April 7.

Smith, R-Euless, said he wants the two-day approach to make sure legislators and invited experts don't talk all day and into the night before giving members of the public their turn. That's what happened this month in the Senate, which held a 23-hour hearing before sending to the House the proposal by Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, requiring voters to present a photo ID or two other identifying documents.

"I didn't like the fact that the public didn't have a chance to testify until the wee hours," Smith said Thursday.

Rep. Joe Heflin, D-Crosbyton, is drafting an approach that he says could bring members of both parties together. Early this week, he outlined some of his ideas to Smith, who didn't reject any out of hand, though he said he wants to hear testimony about their feasibility and potential costs before making commitments.

Heflin, who voted against voter ID legislation last session, said he hopes to have a draft proposal ready by Tuesday that includes these elements:

• Phasing in the ID mandate over four to six years to soothe Democratic qualms that the Republican ID push is driven by partisan desires to tamp down turnout among minority, Democratic-leaning voters next year in legislative elections.

The 2011 Legislature (elected in 2010) will redraw congressional and legislative districts based on the 2010 U.S. census; more GOP legislators means a more Republican map.

• Exempting voters 65 and older from the ID mandate, with the exemption age increasing by one year every year after the law takes effect.

• Placing a voter's photo on the registration card. The cards also would have new bar codes, linked to personal identification numbers that voters would use to cast mail ballots.

• Ensuring there's state money to pay for ID cards for Texans in some cases and to support expanded voter education and registration efforts.

Heflin got colorful in airing his hopes of building a bipartisan coalition.

"No one can throw up their toenails completely," he said. "Have you ever been so sick you felt like you could throw up your toenails? This (voter ID issue) is not something for anybody to die over."

wgselby@statesman.com


http://www.statesman.com/news/content/r ... terid.html

Texas Citizens get in there, fill the parking lots, take buses 1 hr away. Let your government know the fact that we, Americans, want our interior secure.

And the license issued in one state illegally can be used to obtain benefits and do America harm.