Voter ID Measure Passes House Preliminary Vote; Assured Passage by Legislature
Texas Insider Report: AUSTIN Texas After a long day of debate which started around 10:00 am this morning and just less than 30 minutes ago close to midnight the House of Representatives passed the much-debated and highly-controversial voter ID bill (SB 14) on a 104-48 vote reflecting an almost perfect partisan divide in the lower chamber of the legislature. The House vote was pretty much a mirror reflection vote taken in the Senate on January 27 along partisan lines.
With the passage of the Voter ID bill in the Senate almost 2 months ago and now in the House tonight sending it to a third reading tomorrow where it is almost assured of passage there is no doubt that many Texans particularly Latinos African-Americans and the elderly will be discouraged more than ever before from taking part in our fair election system said Rep. Alonzo.
And in lieu of the floundering half-hearted effort to court Hispanics and other minorities the GOP has opted instead for wholesale disenfranchisement of the fastest growing demographic in Texas. Furthermore my Republican colleagues clearly showed their unwillingness to understand the detrimental effects that this measure could potentially have on all Texans in the long run.
Unlike what my GOP colleagues said I was not and will ever be convinced that voter fraud has ever been a problem in Texas elections. There is no doubt that our courts will now get involved costing taxpayers millions more in the long haul but if that is what it takes we will just have to wait and see continued Rep. Alonzo.
In these lean budgetary times facing our state I firmly believe the people of Texas need strong leadership to help shape legislative priorities. Thus the more reason that the state budget should be of paramount importance and not disenfranchising voters like this measure does concluded Rep. Alonzo.
