Voter ID coming to the House

Well, that didn't take long.

Rep. Todd Smith, R-Euless, chair of the House Elections Committee, announced today his committee will devote two days of hearings to voter ID on April 6 and 7. The first day will be devoted to expert testimony, with an equal number of people for and against the bill invited. The second day will be for public testimony.

Smith said he thought splitting the hearing over two days would help the House avoid the tense, all-night, marathon session the Senate endured on the issue.

"We're going to meet two days that week just because I didn't like that the public testimony (did) not start 'til midnight," Smith said. "I thought that was not the best way to approach it."

The best way to approach it is to leave it alone and deal with other matters. But I suppose since voter ID is the single most important issue facing Texas today, this was going to happen. Given that, we can use this thorough analysis by the Legislative Study Group to answer - again - the allegations and wild accusations that are sure to come up again. Not that it's likely to change anyone's mind, but there it is anyway. Sometimes having the facts has to be its own reward. And remember, unlike the Senate, this will go through a committee before coming to the full House for a vote, if indeed that happens. Which means we'd get two opportunities to wallow in this. Joy.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on March 25, 2009 to That's our Lege