Last week’s presidential election saw polling places shuttered and not working properly, confusion around ever-changing voter ID laws and voters feeling intimidated at the polls.
Now, congressional Democrats are worried about the future of voting in the wake of the first presidential election since portions of the Voting Rights Act were overturned by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Fort Worth Rep. Marc Veasey, chairman of the Congressional Voting Rights Caucus, held a packed forum this week on Capitol Hill with civil rights leaders and members of Congress to address concerns during last week’s election.
“Many people are saying the voter ID law in Wisconsin may have swung Wisconsin from Clinton to Trump,” Veasey said in an interview with McClatchy, adding that he respects the results of the election. “An Illinois man moved to Wisconsin and they made it virtually impossible for him to vote. This shows us that the worst fears we had in the post Shelby v. Holder era are here.”
In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled that a portion of the Voting Rights Act which required nine states, including Texas, to obtain federal pre-clearance before making changes to election law was unconstitutional.
Since the decision, a number of state legislatures have passed new voter ID requirements and shifted early voting and voter registration periods.
Opponents like Veasey argue that federal pre-clearance is needed to curtail voter suppression, while supporters say voter ID is necessary to prevent fraud.
Texas’ voter ID law was temporarily changed for the presidential election, creating confusion for some voters and polling places. Voters without an accepted form of identification were still allowed to vote if they presented an alternate form of identification and signed a form stating “reasonable impediment” prevented them from obtaining a proper identification.
“In Texas, you had people saying the old laws were still in effect,” Veasey said.