When Only Repugs Can Vote, Repugs Win

When I say repugs want to make sure the only people who can vote are white, straight, rich, xian men who are registered republicans, I mean repugs are right now making certain the only people who can vote are white, straight, rich, xian men who are registered republicans.

nonnymouse at Crooks and Liars:

But there's an extra, very nasty little sting in the tail: these approved voter IDs also require that voters have their up-to-date legal name at the polls. This effectively impacts a huge proportion of women, particularly those who are married. Only 66% of voting age women has ready access to a photo document that will attest to proof of citizenship and what Texas considers a "legal" name. This is largely significant because married women don't always update their documents with their married names, while changing names after marriage isn't something that usually affects male voters. 34% of women voters – those who are even aware that such an ID will be necessary or they will be prevented from voting – are hurrying to update their documents, not so easy to do and, tellingly, not that quick. Texas is making obtaining this photo ID with a so-called "up-to-date" name as difficult as possible; women must show original documents, along with both a birth certificate and proof of marriage, divorce degree, or court-ordered changes. Photocopies just aren’t good enough.

SNIP

Women’s votes matter. More women than men vote, and women make up the majority of minority, student and elderly voters. Black women in particularly have the highest turn out of any voting group, at 66%. Women voters were the deciding factor in electing Barack Obama, more than any other demographic block, and determined 22 of the 23 Senate races in 2012 that allowed Democrats to retain control. Texas’s new voter ID law and its draconian requirements will effectively remove 34% of women who would ordinarily be eligible to vote from being able to do so, a significant enough proportion that could ensure an election in the Republican Party’s favour.

Digby:

And how hard can it be to zip down to the DMV and get a proper ID? According to Ari Berman, it's pretty damned hard:

Getting a valid photo ID in Texas can be far more difficult than one assumes. To obtain one of the government-issued IDs now needed to vote, voters must first pay for underlying documents to confirm their identity, the cheapest option being a birth certificate for $22 (otherwise known as a “poll tax”); there are no DMV offices in 81 of 254 counties in the state, with some voters needing to travel up to 250 miles to the closet location. Counties with a significant Hispanic population are less likely to have a DMV office, while Hispanic residents in such counties are twice as likely as whites to not have the new voter ID (Hispanics in Texas are also twice as likely as whites to not have a car). “A law that forces poorer citizens to choose between their wages and their franchise unquestionably denies or abridges their right to vote,” a federal court wrote last year when it blocked the law.

Of course. Suppressing the votes of the young, the poor, racial and ethnic minorities and women would be the point. We know who they tend to vote for don't we?

Luckily there is one group that won't have to worry:

Texas has the distinction of being one of the few states that allows you to vote with a concealed weapons permit, but not a student ID.

Hey, I don't see why they should have to show a permit. They should be able to just hold a gun to the poll workers head and demand a ballot. That ought to be enough to prove they're a Real American, right there.

Yeah, they're passing those free IDs out like candy.

Just 0.003 Percent Of Eligible Texas Voters Have Received A Free Voter ID

Despite an estimated 1.4 million voters in Texas who lack a photo ID, Texas has issued only 41 free ID cards since last week.

Bonus feminazi bashing!

So It’s Working As Intended?

Among its other successful disenfranchisements, the new Texas vote suppression law works as a poll tax on women who left their IDs in their maiden names.

Underthemountainbunker has a gif that shows how to fix it.