Former House Speaker hit by Texas voter ID law

Former House Speaker Jim Wright, D-Texas, was snagged in Texas' new voter ID law over the weekend when he was told he lacked sufficient paperwork to get the proper ID card to take the polls.

Wright, who served in Congress from 1955 to 1989 and was House Speaker from 1987 to 1989, before resigning amid an ethics scandal, went to the Department of Public Safety to get a State of Texas Election Identification Certificate when he realized his driver's license was expired. But state officials told him that the expired license, voter registration card, and Texas Christian University faculty ID were insufficient to get his voter ID card. He would have to return with a certified copy of his birth certificate, which he plans to do in time to vote in Tuesday's state and local elections.

"I earnestly hope these unduly stringent requirements on voters won't dramatically reduce the number of people who vote," Wright told the Star-Telegram. "I think they will reduce the number to some extent,"

He's not the only high-profile Texas politician to be hit by new provisions in the law. State Sen. Wendy Davis, a Democrat, had to sign an affidavit to get a new ballot because her drivers license includes her middle name, but the voter rolls omit it. Davis, who opposed the voter ID law, offered the amendment that allows people with only minor discrepancies between their names on voter rolls and identification cards to sign an affidavit affirming their identity. The amendment will also affect Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, who is likely to face Davis in next year's gubernatorial election.

Texas' 2011 voter ID law - which had previously been blocked by a federal court - took effect after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this year that the Voting Rights Act contained an outdated formula for which states and municipalities must seek preclearance from the federal government in order to change their election laws. The Justice Department is suing the state of Texas over the law, alleging that it adopted a voter ID law to deny or restrict the right to vote on account of race, color or membership in a language minority group.