Forget real crisis, Perry adds Voter ID legislation to emergency track

Texas GOP: I Want YOU....not to vote.

Last week, Rick Perry thumbed his nose at democrats by distracting from the current economic crisis that is challenging the state's budget. Instead, he gave priority to designating two pieces of legislation as emergencies. One of these emergency measures deal with limiting eminent domain, the other with eliminating sanctuary cities for illegal aliens. Today, Perry added another contentious issue to this list. He wants the republican controlled legislature to work on a law that would tighten voter ID requirements. Essentially, they want voters to be required to show some form of photo ID when voting. This has been an objective that republicans have been wanting to accomplish for quite some time.

On the other hand, democrats see this as unnecessary posturing. They worry that such a law will make only serve to discriminate against those who might have  limited forms of identification. Laredo's own senator Judith Zaffirini opposes the bill, and was quoted as saying : "The only positive aspect I can see is that this will be off the table, and we can focus on the important business of solving our economic problems and finding solutions." I think Senator Zaffirini probably figures that there's no way of stopping the republican agenda and is just eager to start addressing the real problems facing the state.

Personally, I always show my Texas driver's license when voting. So, I wouldn't have to come up with any new form of identification since I'm already presenting a photo. However, there might many others who might not drive or have this type of ID already. This new law would obviously present a problem for them. Since the 1960s, the trend had been towards more inclusive voting procedures. The republicans, true to form, are intent on reversing this positive development and seek to return to the past, when voting was much more exclusive and much less democratic.