Lawmakers Killed a Plan to Shut Down 87 Driver's Licenses Offices. That's Good News for Voters.

[OilemFirchen]

Source: Texas Observer

In a victory for Texas voters on Wednesday, a panel of state lawmakers unanimously killed a proposal to shutter up to 87 “inefficient” Department of Public Safety driver’s license offices in mostly rural areas. DPS issued the proposal after the Sunset Advisory Commission, a state agency focused on government efficiency, asked DPS to “develop and implement a plan to close inefficient driver license offices.” But doing so would have drastically increased travel times for people who need to obtain a government-issued ID, which is required to vote in Texas.

...

“I had a hard time wrapping my head around the idea that an office in Presidio would be inefficient just because there aren’t many people in Presidio,” said state Representative Poncho Nevarez, a Democrat from Eagle Pass who represents Presidio, at Wednesday’s hearing. “We have to provide people an opportunity to get a driver’s license without driving 100-something miles to get one.”
Closing the offices would have drastically increased travel times for people who need to obtain a government-issued ID, which is required to vote in Texas. courtesy of demos.org

...

If the proposal had passed, it could have spelled trouble for people who need to obtain photo ID from DPS office to vote. In the last decade, the Republican-controlled Legislature has done its damndest to make it harder to vote — particularly for younger, elderly and minority voters — under the guise of election integrity. In 2011, lawmakers passed a controversial law requiring voters to present certain forms of state-approved photo ID to cast a ballot. After federal judges found the law to be discriminatory against blacks and Latinos, legislators passed a new voter ID law last year that was ultimately upheld by a federal appeals court.

The closure of DPS offices would have represented another hurdle for voters, said Myrna Pérez, deputy director of the Democracy Program at the Brennan Center for Justice in New York. “Too many Texans already face substantial barriers getting to a DPS office. Exacerbating those barriers could have had real implications for who would be able to vote,” she said.

Read more: https://www.texasobserver.org/lawmakers-killed-a-plan-to-shut-down-87-drivers-licenses-offices-thats-good-news-for-voters/

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As another OP indicated, these offices are in predominantly Latino and African American areas. At least these asshats are blatant about their racism.

[sakabatou]

1. GOP: Will it make voting harder?

Person: Yes it will.
GOP: WE LOVE IT! IMPLEMENT THE PLAN!

[sandensea]

2. How about shutting down 87 GOP-held districts.

Never mind inefficiency. Those prostitues can't even remember what their districts look like, much less see fit to actually represent them.

[WestIndianArchie]

3. Racism?

What racism? I thought we were in a "Post Racial Society"

[CCExile]

4. I have been to 3 of the new Super TxDOT facilities, and they are fantastic!

Make an appointment by phone or computer, arrive and check-in electronically, and be talking to a capable human within 10 to 15 minutes, then out.Wow!
Of course, these are only built far out from the city centers, and then only on the richest side of town.

Now let's look at the regular old ones, for example the one in far poorer south Austin TX: Not enough parking in the lot and no street parking. You are met just inside the door by a surly bureaucrat that checks your paper work, and tosses you out if it's not all there and correct. She may or may not tell you what you need to do to make right. If you make it by this person, you take a number and wait your turn. This can literally take hours, the AC is weak, the circulation is worse. When your number comes up you stand in another line for maybe 20 minutes. Do what ever, and you're out. If you are a normal working person you have lost HALF A DAY, been treated like a cow, but at least in a week or two you can drive and vote.

So, new super facilities, huge, empty, efficient, remote, only handy to the rich or mobile. Old facilities, crowded, ugly, mean, inefficient, and soul deadening, just the way Texas rulers like it for normal people.

Lesson: It's better to be rich in Texas, and it will only get worse unless the Republicans are tossed hard. May not happen this election, or the next, but it will happen.

P.S. - The new facilities are not on bus routes

[diva77]

5. Having voter ID laws IS voter suppression. That being said, I hope people are vigilant about

ensuring that the dmv branches all have reasonable hours so that people won't have to miss work to get an ID. I hope they have a reasonable outreach plan to inform voters of the requirement.

Alabama has a similar situation -- the dmv hours are extremely inconvenient and will most likely deter a lot of people from getting IDs.

[sheshe2]

6. Good job lawmakers.

[C Moon]

7. The GOP is trying hard to steal the election in November.

[dem in texas]

8. Drivers License Renewal Hell

In Texas you can renew by mail for 12 years, then you have to go to the Drivers License office to renew and have a new picture taken. I had to renew in person in July in Dallas in 100 degree heat. The few offices left in the Dallas only hold 300 applicants at a time. People are waiting 2 hours in the heart just to get into the building. I went over twice and both times, long lines outside. So far, I am driving with an expired license. I can't wait in the hot sun for 2 hours, then wait another 2 hours indoors.

What to do? The drivers license offices are a mess, can't believe more offices are being closed. Wait, I can believe it, after all this is Texas.

[efhmc]

9. It also would have made people angry who just needed to

renew their licenses or for teens who need to take their driving test and get their first license. People would have had to take time off to travel to other larger towns to get this done. I'm not even sure where that next larger town might be to Presidio. (Presidio is about 240 miles from El Paso, which is the closest major city to this town.) It is only abput 152 miles to Ft. Stockton. Maybe the townspeople could renew in Mexico. That is much closer.