Voter Identification Law in Texas - Essay Example

Should Texas have a voter ID law or not? Voter Identification law is a law that requests for some form of identification to allow an individual to receive a ballot for election or to vote. The introduction of the Law in Texas in 2011 was controversial because some people felt that it was infringing on the people’s right to vote. This is because the law required some form of ID, which contained the picture of the individual restricting college students or other young voters who were intending to use their school ID as a form of identification. The criticism that was raised was that the law was unfair to the young voters where most of them were liberal and was favorable to the gun owners who were conservative. The law was allowed despite the dissenting opinion of the Supreme Court judges who indicated that the law was unconstitutional and would lead to poll tax. This essay will examine the pros and cons of the Texas having a voter ID Law. Pros of having a voter ID law The main aim for coming up with the stricter voter ID law was to ensure that there was a reduction of fraud during the election. The most common type of fraud that is witnessed during the election is impersonation fraud, which would be curbed using the Voter ID law because the voter before voting has to produce an identification that contains their photo (Smith et al 90). By so doing, it ensures that another person does not vote on their behalf. For that reason, the enacting of voter ID laws was meant to ensure that one person one vote; hence, allowing free and fair elections. Secondly, the voter ID law is imperative to the state of Texas because it is sensible and legal because it safeguards the integrity of the polls (Langholz 731). This is an opinion given by the United States Supreme Court. The elections should be free and fair and such elections can only be achieved by ensuring that there are set out procedures that will ensure that people vote in a democratic manner. Therefore, the State of Texas enacting a law that will ensure such elections will be conducted in a democratic manner should not be challenged. Additionally, the candidates that are competing have the duty and right to be elected fairly and by ensuring that the integrity of elections is safeguarded then it becomes appropriate to have such strict elections laws. According to the Texas Attorney General Greg Abbot who was a proponent of the law he applauded the Supreme Court Order where he stated that “We are pleased that the United States Supreme Court Has agreed that Texas’ Voter ID law should remain in effect for the upcoming election. The state shall continue to defend the voter ID law and remain confident that the district’s court misguided ruling will be overturned on the merits. The United States Supreme Court has already ruled that voter ID laws are legal and sensible way to protect the integrity of elections.” Thirdly, having voter ID is a way of raising the voter’s confidence when it comes to the election process. This is because every individual gets to vote once and a dead person cannot vote. However, in some cases some people take advantage of the fact that the form of identification that is requested from them does not require a photo ID and for that reason, they can use an ID of a deceased person to vote more than once. Citizens so not have confidence when it comes to the election process because when people really want to win they can do anything. Having, laws that ensure that a person votes once and cannot impersonate another person, then it creates assurance in the election process. Thus, having Voter ID laws will increase the levels of confidence that citizens lack in the electoral system. Lastly, the advantage of having voter laws is to regulate corruption in by the candidates participating in the election process. In the sense that, when there are strict laws that indicate that a person should only vote once and more strict laws that provide punishment for people who tend to impersonate others. The candidates cannot find means to manipulate people to vote twice. Therefore, this laws are appropriate in guaranteeing free and fair polls. Although the laws may seem strict they are appropriate for a society that has different points of view because there are both conservatives and liberals who conflict in their opinions. Cons of Voter ID laws Voter Id has been established to be discriminatory in the sense that, the minorities, students, the elderly and people that are living off the grid are affected by the restrictions (McAdam & Karina 89). According to the Deputy Director of the Democracy program at Brennan Justice” A court of law found Texas’s photo ID was enacted with intentional discrimination against minority voter, and yet that discrimination is being allowed to infect the November elections.” He further stated that this ruling should not stand because there is a need to create laws that protect and ensure that elections are free fair and accessible to all individuals interested to vote. Secondly, the law violates the constitution which states that every individual has the right to participate in the elections. Therefore, the voter ID laws are unconstitutional according to Ginsburg indicated that the utmost threat to public confidence when it comes to elections is the viewpoint of enforcing a tenaciously discriminatory law, a law that likely enforces an unconstitutional poll tax and creating a risk of denying people the right to elect their representatives to hundreds of thousands of qualified voters. It has been established that the number of registered voters who would be denied the constitutional right to vote was estimated at 600,000 voters. This number is huge and it could create a great impact on the elections. However, such voters have been struck out of voting because some of them cannot afford to get a birth certificate that will enable them to have a voter ID. Additionally, college students have been shut out of the elections as they have been deprived the right to vote using their student identification cards. To the conservatives this is a great advantage to them because the younger generation has been held to be liberal. Thus, the things they support are not in conformity with the conservatives and for that reason, for some the young generation been shut out from the elections has been an advantage. The process of acquiring the voter ID has been held to be time consuming and expensive for some individuals who want to vote. This is because the law stipulates that in case a person has a driving license that is expired after 60 days they have to renew it. In addition, for the individuals who have lost their birth certificate they have to get one at a cost of $ 22 among other charges, which is expensive for most minority groups living in Texas meaning that people have opted instead of using money looking for voter ID they should meet their homes bills. This is because many people live below the poverty level and giving so much money for only a day would be too much. The process is time consuming because before a person get the actual voter ID they have to go through various verification processes that are required by the electoral body to guarantee that the voter is duly registered. The Texas Voter law referred to as the SB 14 requires that registers voters should show one of the seven kinds of Photo Identification photo before a person can cast a voter (Ellis 2). There are about 13.6 million registered voters in Texas meaning that all this individuals have to show their photo before they are allowed to cast any votes which is a time consuming task. Some people change over the years meaning that some people may not look the same as a photo that was taken 20 years ago; meaning that the individual has to provide another documents that would proof their identity. Therefore, this process is time consuming. The major aim of the according to the ruling of the court was to protect the integrity of election; thus, ensuring confidence in elections and preventing voter fraud (Ansolabehere & Nathaniel 1750). However, in the State of Texas there have only been two cases of impersonation fraud in regards to the election meaning that electronic fraud is not ram pant and therefore, such strict laws should be enacted. This is the reason these matter has been held to be unconstitutional because there is no clear evidence to show that there has been no integrity in election or cases of fraud. It has been established that now that the laws have been created fraud will be more rampant because people are being allowed to use electronic means to cast their votes (Maxwell, Ernest & Adolfo 50). The internet is the root of many fraudulent acts and for that reason what they should do is to lean more on ensuring that physical voting is more appropriate that other means of voting allowed by the state. For that reason, it is correct to indicate that there are some loopholes in the law as they have not considered issues of fraud when it comes to electronic voting. Conclusion The voter ID Laws in Texas are controversial, especially when it comes to the unconstitutionality of the law. This is because the law has been held to keep people of from voting because they belong to a minority groups. However, that is not the circumstance because laws are enacted not to help one group of people, but the whole society. In my opinion, I would say that the laws although they do have some disadvantages them still potential because they ensure that people retain the confidence in the election process. Additionally, the reliability of the election is safeguarded by preventing any issues of fraud that may arise in order to help one candidate to win elections. Additionally, the laws have maintained the democratic rule of one individual one vote. Work Cited Ansolabehere, Stephen, and Nathaniel Persily. "Vote fraud in the eye of the beholder: The role of public opinion in the challenge to voter identification requirements." Harvard Law Review (2008): 1737-1774. Ellis, Atiba R. "The Cost of the Vote: Poll Taxes, Voter Identification Laws, and the Price of Democracy." Denver University Law Review 86.3 (2009). Langholz, Samuel P. "Fashioning a Constitutional Voter-Identification Requirement." Iowa Law Review 93 (2008): 731. Maxwell, William E, Ernest Crain, and Adolfo Santos. Texas Politics Today. Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2012. Print. McAdam, Doug, and Karina Kloos. Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America. , 2014. Print. Smith, Michael A, Kevin Anderson, Chapman Rackaway, and Alexis Gatson. State Voting Laws in America: Voting Fraud, or Fraudulent Voters?, 2015. Internet resource. Read More