Wendy Davis’ fix to voting law lets her cast ballot

[ashling]

But when the state senator got to her polling place, poll workers noted that the name on her driver’s license, Wendy Russell Davis, didn’t match that on her voter rolls, Wendy Davis. That meant that under the law, she was required to sign an affidavit swearing that she was who she said she was.

“It was a simple procedure,” Davis told reporters afterward. “I signed the affidavit and was able to vote with no problem.”

But it was thanks to Davis’ own efforts that she even had that option. In 2011, Davis introduced an amendment to the voter ID bill saying that if names are substantially similar but not identical, voters can sign an affidavit and still vote. The original bill as drafted by Republicans would have required voters in that situation to present a document showing a name change—something few people bring with them when they go to vote.

And it gets better—or worse. Greg Abbott, the frontrunner for the GOP nomination for governor, also will have to sign an affidavit, his campaign said, thanks to a similar names mismatch. Abbott, the state attorney general, has defended the voter ID law in court.

http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/wendy-davis-outsmarts-texas-voter-id-law

[catrose]

1. I'm glad she's publicizing this

I've been an election worker and poll watcher, and no one but me ever told people about provisional ballots. I don't imagine that election workers are going to offer the affidavit option either.