Wendy Davis Hit With TX Voter ID Law, Forced to Sign Affidavit to Vote
First, it was the Texas District Judge Sandra Watts who, after voting for the past five decades, was almost barred from voting Oct 22nd. Now it’s gubernatorial candidate state Senator Wendy Davis who had difficulty voting thanks to the state’s new, strict voter ID law. The law kicked in Tues. Oct. 22 just in time for the start of early voting in Texas’ November 5 election.
What is the big problem that caused Wendy Davis to need to sign an affidavit in addition to showing ID to exercise her constitutional right to vote? Her driver’s license has her name as Wendy Russell Davis but voter registration records listed her as Wendy Davis. So that wasn’t good enough according to the new law because the names have to be exactly the same.
The Texas Secretary of State’s office says that if the name on the photo ID doesn’t match exactly but is “substantially similar” to the name on the registered voters’ list, a voter will be permitted to vote as long as the voter signs an affidavit stating that the voter is the same person on the list of registered voters.
If poll workers deem that the ID and listed name are close enough then the person can vote, but is required to sign an affidavit stating they are who they say they are like Senator Davis did. Senator Davis and other Democrats are concerned that women who have IDs that don’t match exactly due to marriage, divorce, or some other name change will need to go home and get additional documentation or will simply be turned away from the polls.
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