Making the case for photo IDs at the polls

REP. PATRICIA HARLESS

Updated 06:52 p.m., Monday, November 14, 2011

In order for our democratic republic to function and thrive, elections must be free of fraud.

Safeguarding election integrity, therefore, is among the primary functions of state government. The photo identification bill that we passed in the 82nd Texas Legislature is a significant measure to improve election integrity and safeguard against election fraud. Yet, as the U.S. Department of Justice reviews the law for pre-clearance under the Voting Rights Act, a barrage of inaccurate attacks has been levied against our election integrity bill that must be corrected.

Read the full op-ed, which was published by the Houston Chronicle.