If You’re Poor and You Live in Texas, Your Right to Vote Has Been Taken Away

Here’s an excerpt from my Monday column about the Republican poll tax.

Let’s take a look at the Texas Voter ID law (poll tax), since the attorney general there zealously enacted his state’s Voter ID law before the ink was dry on the Shelby County v Holder decision.

In order to vote, citizens of Texas will have to present a photo ID or else they won’t be able to vote. The ID has to be one of the following:

-Texas driver license—unexpired or expired less than 60 days
-Texas identification card—unexpired or expired less than 60 days
-Texas concealed handgun license—unexpired or expired less than 60 days
-U.S. passport—unexpired or expired less than 60 days
-U.S. military identification with photo
-U.S. citizenship certificate with photo

If you don’t have one of these forms of identification, you’ll have to apply for an Election Identification Certificate (EIC). But in order to acquire an EIC, you have to present your proof of citizenship and a second form of identification. Yes, that’s right, you’ll need to get an ID in order to get an ID — one of many reasons why this law is so completely ridiculous. And all of this on top of the normal voter registration process (which only requires a Social Security Number).

But this is where the serious issue of a poll tax enters into the process.

Any of the above forms of identification will literally cost money to attain, and now you must attain an ID in order to vote. Therefore a Republican state law demands that you pay to vote. [READ MORE]