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Early voting started yesterday here in Texas, and this year is going to be a bit different. This past weekend the Supreme Court gave the state the go-ahead to enact the strict voter ID law. I wish I could say that I was straddling the fence on this issue, but it feels too much like we're repeating the past with this law. I know that no one likes to talk about racism and the term voter fraud is thrown around a lot, but this reminds me a lot of Jim Crow. Once again its minorities who are the main ones affected; the demographic has just changed to illegal Hispanic immigrants and lower-class Blacks instead of lower-class whites and newly freed slaves. Instead of having to pass literacy tests, pay outrageous poll taxes or verify that your grandfather was a free man (if the first two didn't stop the newly freed slaves from voting that last one did), voters will now be required to show one of the following forms of government issued identification:
- A driver's license or personal ID card
- A birth certificate
- U.S. citizenship papers
- U.S. passport
- A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck with the voter's name and voting address
