Legislative Study Group

Texas House of Representatives

Chair Rep. Garnet Coleman Vice Chair Rep. Lon Burnam
Treasurer Rep. Elliott Naishtat Secretary Rep. Rafael Anchia

LSG Floor Report on Senate Engrossed Version of SB 14 - 1/27/11

Bill Analysis & Evaluation on Senate Bill 14
Recommendation: Unfavorable
Evaluated by:
Phillip Martin
Phillip@texaslsg.org

Members,

The Texas Senate passed SB 14 by Senator Fraser, the voter ID bill. Despite the best efforts of several Senators to
eliminate the unnecessary and potentially unconstitutional elements of the legislation, SB 14 passed 19-12. We
applaud each and every Senator who worked hard to prevent this bad public policy from passing, and we
promise to continue monitoring the legislation as it moves over to the Texas House for consideration.

Below is a brief analysis of SB 14 from the Legislative Study Group, as well as some additional information on the
issue of voter ID. When SB 14, or similar House companion legislation, comes to the floor we will have a more
complete analysis on the bill. In the mean time, we hope you find these resources helpful and informative.

Engrossed Version of Senate Bill 14 (Fraser, et al.)

Senate Bill 14 creates a requirement that, in order to vote in Texas, a voter must provide photo identification at
the polling place.

A careful examination of academic and nonpartisan research on Voter ID proposals and laws in other states
shows that Voter ID proponents have presented no evidence that a photo ID requirement would solve any
problem or provide any public policy benefits that would merit an affirmative vote by any member of the Texas
House. Instead, such legislation is expected to erect numerous barriers for many Texans and make it more
difficult for many Texans to exercise their fundamental right to vote.

Any form of voter ID legislation that makes it more difficult for Texans to vote will be considered unfavorable by
the Texas Legislative Study Group. Below is a brief highlight of the key components of Senate Bill 14.

Photo Identification Provisions

SB 14 states that the following forms of photo ID are acceptable forms of identification:

1. Texas driver's license or personal identification card issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety. An ID
card from DPS is free of charge, and can be obtained by submitting a voter registration certificate or by
submitting a registration application to DPS.

2. U.S. military identification card that contains the person's photo and is not expired

3. U.S. citizenship certificate that contains the person's photo and is not expired

4. U.S. passport that is not expired

5. A concealed handgun license

One key exception to the voter photo ID requirements is that if a voter is 70 years of age or older as of January
1, 2012, they do not have to meet the ID requirements if they present their voter registration certificate.
Additionally, an amendment added onto Senate Bill 14 by Senator Lucio would allow that a license that had
expired within 60 days of the election would still be considered a valid license for the purposes of voting.

Provisional Voting
If a voter does not meet the photo ID requirements, he or she may cast a provisional ballot by signing an
affidavit stating that he or she is an eligible, registered voter in that precinct. The voter then has until the sixth
day after the date of an election to present proof of ID to the voter registrar for examination in order for their
vote to be counted.

Legislative Study Group - PO Box 12943, Capitol Station – Austin, TX. 78711 - www.TexasLSG.org – 512-827-8756