Farouk For Governor

During the democratic primary debate, Bill White and Farouk Shami politely sparred on a variety of issues, however, there were a number of things that the two agreed on.

One such issue was a bill that sought to have voters show their photo ID at the polling station before voting at the booth. The two agreed on the fact that the bill was a bad idea.

This did not come as a surprise, as House Democrats in Texas, had effectively watered-down a bill that had been sponsored by Republicans that required the electorate to show two alternative types of identification without an attached photo or show a photo ID.

Mr. Shami gave his reason for opposing the bill as being that the requirements at the time in regard to a registered voter’s ID were enough. The requirements at the time as explained by Shami required the voter to provide their driver’s license in order to prove that they were both a citizen and voter in the State of Texas.

Later on however, Farouk’s campaign director, Vince Leibowitz who also served as a senior strategist to Farouk’s election team, clarified the statement, saying that his candidate, had probably been alluding to the situation in Harris County, where the office of the clerk, had been asking voters to show their driver’s license before they were allowed to proceed with the election.

To understand the situation in Harris County, you need to know that back in 2008, Harris County began using a computerized system where poll workers were expected to use their driver’s license instead of swiping their elector’s card in the early voting period.

According to the law in Texas, it is not necessary for voters to have a photo ID either on Election Day or early voting. In the event that you don’t have your voter’s card with you, but are eligible to vote, you are needed to append your signature on an affidavit in addition to having one of these seven important documents; current utility bill, driver’s license, paycheck, or bank statement which shows your address and name.

It is important to note here that state law did not require voters to have a photo ID with them at the polls. So, Mr. Shami was correct in saying that voter’s may use their driver’s license in lieu of their registration cards.