By Drew Singer
WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) – Attorneys for Texas on
Thursday cited the appearance of former President George W.
Bush’s name on a list of Texas residents who would supposedly be
ineligible to vote in the state under a law requiring voters to
show photo identification as evidence a Harvard University study
of the measure was deeply flawed.
In a federal trial over the law, which has been blocked by
the Obama administration, the lawyers for Texas argued the fact
that Bush was on the list even though he certainly has a federal
ID, showed the study wildly overestimated the number of Texas
voters who would be unable to vote under the measure.
Texas lawyers told the court they also found the names of
two members of the state legislature on the list.
Bush is among some 1.5 million Texas citizens whose names
are listed in the study as failing to meet the eligibility
requirements of the law, lawyers said at the trial.
The study by Harvard government professor Stephen
Ansolabehere is a key piece of evidence presented by President
Barack Obama’s administration to back its contention the law
will make it more difficult for minorities to vote.
“George Walker Bush,” Adam Mortara, a lawyer for Texas, read
from the list of supposedly ineligible voters in the study. “The
former president.”
Testifying as an expert witness during the trial,
Ansolabehere acknowledged Bush was on the list but could not
explain why he might be ineligible.
Texas officials argue the law will deter fraud, which they
say is a problem in the state. The Justice Department cited the
landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act in blocking the law in March.
The trial is the first challenge to the federal government’s
power to block such a voter ID law since Democratic President
Obama took office in January 2009. Texas hopes its case against
the government will lead to the Supreme Court striking down the
Voting Rights Act as obsolete.
The U.S. government has presented evidence during the week
it says shows many blacks and Hispanics would be disenfranchised
by the law.
The three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia will not allow the law to take effect if it
finds it will harm minority voters worse than the general voting
public. A decision is expected by late summer.
Under the blocked Texas measure, voters would be required to
show photo identification such as a driver’s license or
passport. Existing Texas law mandates that voters show a voter
registration card, which does not have a photo, or an acceptable
alternative, such as a driver’s license or a utility bill.
Obtaining a photo ID can be difficult, particularly for
minorities, federal lawyers said, because of the time and
occasional costs necessary.
The two sides have provided sharply conflicting studies on
whether the law harms minority voters.
Seventeen states have passed some version of a law requiring
voters to present photo ID at the polls. The Justice Department
has also blocked a South Carolina law, citing the Voting Rights
Act, but the challenge has yet to reach the courts.
The Texas lawsuit for approval of the voter identification
law is: State of Texas v. Holder in U.S. District Court for the
District of Columbia, No. 12-cv-128. The judicial panel is
composed of Appeals Judge David Tatel, District Judge Robert
Wilkins and District Judge Rosemary Collyer.
(Reporting by Drew Singer; Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Todd
Eastham)
