Voter ID debate replete with drama, but is voter fraud an urgent problem?
Amid meltdown in Senate and with Legislature in waning days, Democrats and Republicans draw battle lines
By Juan Castillo

AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF


Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Even in a state known for its history of political theater, the meltdown surrounding a proposed voter identification measure is the stuff of melodrama, adding new twists as the Legislature plods toward its final act this session.

On Monday, willing to risk a threat that his body is rejecting a transplanted liver, Sen. Mario Gallegos Jr., D-Houston, returned to Austin and a hospital bed in the Senate lounge. Gallegos was poised to block House Bill 218, which would require voters to provide personal identification at the polls.

Last week, the white-hot rhetoric over the bill triggered finger-pointing, cursing and a standoff between Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and John Whitmire, the Senate's senior Democrat.

Business ground to a halt the next day, with senators meeting in closed sessions for almost four hours over the fate of the bill, still pending in the Senate.

In a letter supporting the legislation, Dewhurst said "illegal aliens" have put the "basic American principle of one person, one vote in danger."

The histrionics would lead one to believe that fraudulent voting — the target of House Bill 218 and another measure, House Bill 626 — is an urgent and grave problem in Texas.

However, even Rep. Phil King, R-Weatherford, House Bill 626's sponsor, acknowledges that "there is no evidence of extensive fraud in Texas elections or of multiple voting," but it could occur.

His bill would require proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The Secretary of State's office, which oversees elections, says it has no way to track whether noncitizens vote, and Attorney General Greg Abbott has said that the rare voter fraud prosecutions in Texas have been mostly related to mail-in ballots, which HB 218 and HB 626 do not address

Critics say the measures are intended to add hurdles that would effectively suppress voter turnout among minorities, the elderly and the poor, who they say would probably vote for Democrats.

Republicans have said the bills are vital to ensuring that only citizens vote.

"For most Americans, this is a no-brainer," Dewhurst said last week.

In his letter, Dewhurst cited figures he said proved noncitizens voted in Harris, Bexar, Dallas, Tarrant and El Paso counties.

Opponents dispute the data, which was drawn from jury summons, arguing that some people claimed that they were not citizens merely to get out of jury duty.

Dewhurst also produced results of a poll he said showed that Texans overwhelmingly support HB 218.

However, the poll of 1,001 voters by Austin-based Baselice & Associates asked only if voters should be required to show a driver's license or other photo identification "to ensure that they are U.S. citizens before they are allowed to vote."

Yet, the identification required by HB 218 wouldn't guarantee that the voter is a citizen. Most of the acceptable forms of identification under the measure, such as a driver's license issued by the state Department of Public Safety, do not verify citizenship.

A driver's license, for example, can be issued to immigrants who are legal permanent residents — meaning they're authorized to live and work here.

But legal permanent residents can't vote; only citizens can.

"House Bill 218 doesn't in any way address undocumented voting," said Luis Figueroa, an attorney with the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "The only thing it prevents is voter impersonation."

Critics say independent research shows that illegal immigrants do not vote. Figueroa said undocumented immigrants have no motivation to vote illegally because voting would jeopardize their chances of acquiring citizenship.

Whether HB 218 dies or lives another day might be known by midnight tonight, the deadline for the bill as written to be introduced in the Senate.

The measure could be attached in some form to a House bill that could be considered before the Legislature adjourns Monday.

HB 626, which passed in the House this month, has not been included in the Senate intent calendar and probably is dead.

With the HB 218 drama still playing out, some have speculated that the standoff can be traced to Republican party goals to come down hard on illegal immigration and Democratic counterefforts to ensure that legislation didn't overstep state authority.

Republicans filed about 30 measures targeting illegal immigrants.

But the vast majority never made it out of committee because a key House chairman, Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, said they were unconstitutional or pre-empted by federal law.

Swinford authored a sweeping border security measure which he said had nothing to do with illegal immigration. That angered some conservative Republicans.

When the border security bill passed the House earlier this month, Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler, in a blistering speech on the House floor, said constituents were demanding legislative action.

"Everyone on this floor needs a vote on illegal aliens to take home and say we did a little something about it," Berman said.

Though the battle lines on voter ID have pitted Democrats against Republicans in the Legislature, a prominent GOP consultant differed with his party on the issue.

"They're just basically using sheer racism to pump their own political points" said Royal Masset, the former political director for the Republican Party of Texas. "They're trying to exploit the public fear of illegal aliens."

Masset said voter ID bills are an "extremely popular vote on the grassroots level." But the idea that illegal immigrants vote "is one of those urban myths that just has caught on and everyone assumes is true."

John Colyandro, executive director of the Texas Conservative Coalition Research Institute, disagreed, saying that the data cited by Dewhurst show that noncitizens are registering to vote and voting, which "ought to be a matter of concern for every Texan, regardless of race or ethnicity."

Said Colyandro: "We have no idea of the magnitude of the problem, and until measures are put in place to verify the integrity of the voter rolls, we can't begin to put a figure as to how many people have illegally registered or illegally voted."

Proposed voter identification measure

The legislation passed out of the House on a straight party-line vote after a contentious debate.

Originally sponsored by Rep. Betty Brown, R-Athens, and sponsored in the Senate by Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, House Bill 218 would require Texans to present identification before voting.

Most of the about 20 acceptable forms of identification are not proof of citizenship.

The bill approved by the House lists the following acceptable forms of ID:

•Driver's license or personal identification card issued by the Department of Public Safety.

•U.S. military ID card containing the person's photograph.

•Valid employee identification card containing the person's photograph.

•U.S. citizenship certificate.

•U.S. passport.

•Student ID card issued by a public or private higher education institution and containing the person's photograph.

•License to carry a concealed handgun issued by the Department of Public Safety.

•Photo ID card issued by an agency or institution of the federal government or a political subdivision of the state.

•Copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document showing the voter's name and address.

•Official mail from a governmental entity.

•Certified copy of a birth certificate or document confirming birth.

•U.S. citizenship papers.

•Original or certified copy of marriage license or divorce decree.

•Court records of adoption, name change or sex change.

•ID card issued by a governmental entity for the purpose of obtaining public benefits.

•Temporary driving permit issued by the DPS.

•Pilot's license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration or other authorized federal agency.

•Library card issued in the state.

•Hunting or fishing license issued by the Parks and Wildlife Department.

jcastillo@statesman.com; 445-3635