By Michael V. Hannigan
Henderson County Now
It is common for there to be confusion when a new law goes into effect, and that is certainly the case with the new Voter ID law in Texas.
While the law was passed in 2011, it had been on hold pending lawsuits. A U.S. Supreme Court decision earlier this year, however, changed that and as a result “voters are now required to present an approved form of photo identification in order to vote in all Texas elections,” according to VoteTexas.gov, a website run by the Texas Attorney General’s Office.
OK, so you have to have an approved ID (listed below) before you can vote. But like they say, the devil is in the details … and the details have many people confused, according to Henderson County Elections Administrator Denise Hernandez.
According to Hernandez, the Voter Registration Office has been busy fielding calls about changes to voter registration cards, because it seems that some cards have more than one name listed.
In accordance with the requirements of the new law, the new voter registration cards will include any name used on an application previously filled out by the voter. For women, for instance, that could include a maiden name or even a name from a prior marriage. Hernandez said that information has always been in the system, but it is only now that the state requires that information on the voter registration cards.
But you don’t have to have identification to match all those names, Hernandez said. It also isn’t a problem if your voter registration card doesn’t list a particular previous name, like a maiden name, for instance.
All that extra information is just to help election clerks make an identification, Hernandez said.
“We are not trying to stop anyone from voting,” she said.
WHAT IF ID AND NAMES DON’T MATCH
So what happens if the name on your ID and your registration name don’t match?
Well, if it is a small difference — say one has your middle name spelled out and the other has it as an initial — you will have the option of filling out a form and fixing the problem at the poll. If you don’t want to do that, there will be a short affidavit for you to read and initial before you can vote.
The important thing is you will get to vote either way.
Even if there is a drastic difference in names, you will still get to vote a provisional ballot, said Hernandez.
VoteTexas.gov says, “Provisional voting is designed to allow a voter whose name does not appear on the list of registered voters due to an administrative error to vote. The voter must complete an affidavit stating the reasons he or she is qualified to vote. … Provisional voters will receive a notice in the mail by the 10th day after the local canvass advising them if their provisional ballots were counted, and if they were not counted, the reason why.”
The bottom line is that election clerks in Henderson County are going to try and give everyone a chance to vote. … Unless, of course, you don’t have any ID.
APPROVED FORMS OF IDENTIFICATION
- Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
- Texas concealed handgun license issued by DPS
- United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph
- United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States passport
IMPORTANT ELECTION DATES
– Feb. 18-28: Early voting period for the primary election.
– Feb. 21: Last day to apply for ballot by mail.
– March 4: Last day to receive ballot by mail.
– March 4: Primary election.
– May 19-23: Early voting period for primary runoff election.
– May 27: Primary runoff election.