SPRING 2014
DOMESTIC
Photo Credit: Joe Shlabotnik
casting their ballots, the article lacked sufficient data to back its steep claim. Meanwhile, Hans Von Spakovsky of the conservative Heritage Foundation argued that the
increase in voter turnout during the 2013
election “delegitimizes claims that voter
ID laws negatively impact poor and minority voters.” Although Spakovsky provided large amounts of data to bolster his
argument, his analysis of critical aspects
of the data is myopic. To begin his argument, Spakovsky observed that the 2011
and 2013 constitutional amendment votes
addressed similar issues and then cited that
about 1.15 million voters – about 8.55%
of registered voters in Texas – turned out
for the 2013 vote, while only .69 million
voters – about 5.37% of register voters in
Texas – turned out for the 2011 vote. While
Spakovsky made no definitive claims as to
why this occurred, he hints that an increase
in turnout from one election to another implies voter suppression was nonexistent.
He fails to acknowledge, however, that significantly higher turnout for constitutional
amendment votes are common when they
occur the year after a presidential election
compared to votes that occur the year before a presidential election. Examining the
turnout for constitutional amendment votes
in Texas over the last ten years, it is clear
that in every vote – 2005, 2009, and 2013
– after a presidential election, there was
similar or higher voter turnout than the previous vote. Therefore, any implication that
2013’s turnout was a sign of the inexistence
of voter suppression is mere sophistry.
Furthermore, Spakovsky cited that urban counties – Travis and Harris counties
in particular – experienced about a five percent increase each in voter turnout from the
2011 to the 2013 elections. However, the increase in voter turnout for Travis County is
easily explained by the special election for
the House of Representatives Seat for District 50. Additionally, the turnout of 13.23%
in Harris County during the 2013 election
is not unprecedented, and was actually surpassed by a turnout of 13.63% during the
2009 election. Spakovsky continues his
argument by citing increases in voter turnout for counties – such as Webb County –
that have large minority populations. From
2011 to 2013, voter turnout in Webb County increased from about 1,200 voters to
about 10,600 voters. The increase in people
voting is staggering, but is easily explained
by local school districts pushing people
to vote, according to Oscar Villarreal, the
Elections Administrator for Webb County.
Essentially, citing increases in voter
turnout from one election to the next does
not support the argument that voter suppression is nonexistent. Nevertheless, given that voter turnout is affected by so many
different factors, it is impossible to make
definitive claims of the effect or lack of effect of voter ID laws from one constitutional vote. To glean more definitive insights,
electoral data from many more elections
must be considered. This March, Texas
held its gubernatorial primaries, its second
vote subject to strict voter ID la