GOP Reportedly Trying To Make End Run Around Proof Of Citizenship For Driver Licenses Which Could Alter Voter ID Landscape

Republicans are reportedly working to resurrect a dead senate bill which would have required that proof of citizenship be presented in order to renew or obtain a driver’s license or state ID from the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Sources tell Capitol Annex that Republicans will attempt to attach an amendment to legislation pending before the House Public Safety Committee today to revive State Sen. John Carona’s SB 1784, which required proof of citizenship in order to obtain a driver’s license or state identification card. The problem, however, is that mandating proof of citizenship for a driver’s license or state ID card could be yet another hurdle added to the process should legislation requiring voters to present a photo identification in order to vote pass out of the Texas House.

A similar amendment was pulled from the DPS sunset bill last week.

If the amendment were to be added to legislation eligible for consideration in the House, it would codify a rule the Texas Department of Public Safety implemented last year. The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund has successfully obtained a temporary injunction halting the enforcement of the rule.

According to sources close to the debate, AARP and a number of other groups active in the Voter ID fight have significant concerns about Carona’s dead bill being amended onto another piece of legislation.

An e-mail obtained by Capitol Annex from an AARP staffer outlined some of the concerns, which could cause a lot of problems were voter identification legislation to pass:

We actually have numerous stories and complaints from Texans unable to get a DL during the time frame DPS required proof of citizenship to get an ID because the individuals did not have a birth certificate – either they were never issued one or could not obtain a copy of one.
For example, a Katrina evacuee tried 3 different times to get a DL and was denied.  On his first attempt he took a current DL from LA, his military veterans card, and his original SS card. He was denied.  He was finally able to obtain a birth certificate and returned with it and his other 3 forms of ID from before.  The clerk at DPS would not accept the birth certificate because it was hand written and in her opinion, the name on the certificate was AntoniA
not AntoniO (his actual name is Antonio).  He was once again denied.

He returned a third time, with the 4 documents listed above and his DDR 214 (military discharge papers, which he had to request and wait to receive before returning to DPS).  All of these forms still were not good enough to prove citizenship under the new rule and he was denied a third time.  He finally asked to speak to the Sergeant and was able to convince him to verify his documentation.  Since he was also a veteran he felt obligated to help Antonio out and Antonio finally got a DL.  This is just one story that shows the barriers this bill will create if passed.

According to our sources, the language will be added to one of two other Carona bills: SB 1783 relating to use of an offender identification card for proof of identity to get a driver’s license, or SB 1785, which relates to the regulation of driver’s licenses and personal ID certificates from DPS.

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