Wayne Slater is the senior political writer at the Dallas Morning News. He lives outside of Austin. He tried to vote early there this weekend. Because Texas’ voter-ID law was challenged by the Justice Department, Slater brought his water bill to the voting precinct, where he met a supervisor named Peggy. Here’s what he says happened next:
Peggy: “We prefer a voter-registration card or a drivers license. There’s a list of identifications starting with registration card, driver’s license, picture ID – we prefer to go in that order.”
Me:Â “Does that mean, Peggy, that I can’t vote with this.”
At that point, Peggy got up, turned around and began leafing through a booket with the state law. Another superviser scurried over. Peggy said I wasn’t producing a photo-ID, He looked quickly at my utility bill and said, “That looks fine.”
Peggy:Â “It has to be a current utility bill.”
He looked over the bill. It was current. “This looks fine,” he said.
Peggy then punched my name in the computer and announced that I’m not a registered voter. I have a current registration card so I know I’m registered. The second superviser came back and looked over the screen. Peggy had mistyped my name. He told her to correct it. She did. I voted.
