Defending Voter ID by Helping Voters Get It

One can both be in favor of photo voter identification and also active in helping those obtain it who don’t already have it.  True the Vote in Texas has today launched NeedID.org, an effort to get photo identification into the hands of those who don’t have it.

And make no mistake, there are those that don’t have it.

But voter ID opponents seem content to condemn these Americans to marginalized economic lives, the sort of lives that existed during Jim Crow.  Back then, they couldn’t check into a hotel, ride public transportation freely or participate fully in the American dream.  Voter ID opponents are content to preserve economic marginalization across America. They must be content that those without photo identification cannot open a bank account, rent a car, get married or buy medicines.

True the Vote isn’t content with the status quo.

Today they launched the  ‘NEED ID?’ program.  It will voluntarily act as the advance team for the State of Texas’ recently announced mobile ID program – parachuting bureaucrats with WiFi and identification card printers into rural and emergent communities. The Houston-based organization will place deputy voter registrars and ID compliance consultants on-site.

 True the Vote also launched a stand-alone website (www.NeedID.org) to educate voters on requirements and a mobilization schedule.

 There is a serious distinction to be made between True the Vote’s new effort in Texas and similar-seeming ones carried out by the racialist Left.  They claim to be helping voters obtain ID, but it’s really about community organizing.

 These other groups are launching ‘voter ID clinics’ and town halls to supposedly offer assistance to urban voters. However, these events tend to serve as underhanded efforts to troll communities for plaintiffs in ongoing DOJ-led voter ID litigation in the state. 

 As it stands, True the Vote is practically the only nonprofit organization in Texas offering assistance to voters that actually support the identification requirement on its face – and are not actively litigating against it. In fact, TTV is the only organization that has petitioned a federal court to defend Texas’ election integrity reform alongside the State. (disclosure: I’m an attorney in the case).

 “True the Vote wants to make certain that all voters are prepared to participate in an accountable election experience,” True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said in a press release. “Our ‘NEED ID?’ website was designed to answer any questions a voter may have and offer resources for full compliance with Texas’ election integrity reforms. We stand ready to assist election officials and diverse communities across the state in every election to come.”