In one West Dallas neighborhood, roughly 25 to 30 percent of eligible voters do not have a valid photo identification for voting. This area, along with sections near Fair Park, have the highest rates in the city. Yet speaking to voters outside C.F. Carr Elementary School, one of the central voting locations in the neighborhood, voters were, for the most part, well-prepared. And more important, many were more adamant about voting this year because of the voter ID law. See also: Dallasites without Voter IDs Are Generally Poor, Non-White and — Surprise! — Democrats Kameha Brown voted early last week, but says she has had a few friends who were discouraged from voting because they did not have a proper ID. “I had a friend who came in with the voter registration card, and they said with the new ID law, we cannot let you vote unless you have the ID,” Brown says. “It’s causing a lot of confusion, and people are getting upset.”
Brown says that when she saw the difficulties from the voter ID law, she was inspired to head out to the polls this year and voice her anger. “That’s why I came early. I needed to get my frustration out on the ballot,” she says. “When you have a registration card, its like proof of ID, so why can’t you use it to vote?”
Mark Baker is one of the voting administrators at Carr. He says he has been pleasantly surprised that his site has largely avoided any ID difficulties so far on Tuesday. “Everybody has come in with their IDs in hand,” he says. “And the good thing about it is, since the voter ID was in effect, and then not in effect, and now it’s back — I thought the voters would be thrown off by that.”
Full Article: Texas’ Voter ID Law Hinders Some, Inspires Other Voters to Come Prepared — and Angry | Dallas Observer.
