Can You Vote In Texas?

   According to an article by Ketan Kapasi that was published in The Daily Texan, the Voting Rights Act ("VRA') of 1965 was invalidate by the Texas Supreme Court. A decision that Kapasi believes that will be bad for Texans and students from The University of Texas at Austin. "Traditionally, students have been able to vote on campus by showing a picture ID, including a UT ID card. But under the voter ID law, students with only a student ID would be unable to vote, leaving students without driver’s licenses out in the cold", says Kaspasi. He also notes that Minority voters, elderly voters, and people who cannot obtain any type of identification required by the new law will be prevented from voting.
    The law requires a person to have a driver's license of the state they are voting in, military ID, state ID card, citizenship certificate, concealed handgun license, or election ID certification in order to vote. This might seem that this is discriminating students who lack the requirements of  required ID and just a student ID. But, the Texas Government does this for legal purposes.
   Student ID's are not acceptable identification for the purposes of voting because they are issued to students who may not be legal citizens. Foreign students, legal residents, illegal alien students, and students who are U.S. citizens are all issued the same student ID. Even if the students are U.S citizens, some students are not a resident of Texas. In other words, Kapasi's argument is more of a complaint from students than a discrimination issue from the government. If a student really wants to vote in Texas, they should go get the proper ID they need in order to vote.


Link to article: http://dailytexanonline.com/opinion/2013/07/10/voting-rights-act-decision-threatens-voter-participation#