Colleague’s work Blog #8

    On Tuesday, August 11^th, 2015 my colleague LoBeau posted a blog titled “Texas Strict Voter ID Law.” In her article she starts off by mentioning that in 2011 the state of Texas passed the nation’s strictest voter ID laws and apparently left about 600,000 citizens without proper identification documents.

     LoBeau then points out that citizens may obtain a free election certificate. We are required to have a birth certificate or current photo ID to apply for jobs, to get a driver’s license, engage in social programs i.e. welfare, unemployment, Medicare, etc. According to LoBeau’s blog it costs about $2-$47 to search for and purchase a copy, which isn’t an unreasonable cost for a vital document. Doing further research on Usa.gov, you can obtain your birth certificate in the state of Texas through the vital records section online, the cost is $22.00, takes about 10 business days to process, and can be sent out overnight and paid with a credit card through Texas.gov. It also does not decrease chance of voting, it just means that every individual has to go through the same procedures as everyone else, regardless of race.

    To answer LoBeau’s question “how many people really care enough to show up and vote with a different name,” the places it would affect would be smaller communities with low voter turnouts. To commit voter fraud on a small city level can be done via hundreds of votes, and an organized group could use voter fraud to place undeserving candidates in office in smaller cities and counties.

    In LoBeau’s last paragraph there was no sort of evidence when she says “studies show” to back up her information, so it leads me to take her words in confidence. Overall I feel as if she has a good viewpoint but her research lacks supporting evidence and should be looked over once more.