HOUSTON – An election worker at the multi-service Center on West Gray Street near downtown Houston said a 93-year-old veteran went home Sunday without voting because he did not have the required identification.
The election worker said the man later returned with several forms of photo ID that would have worked in previous elections but not under the state's new voter ID law. Election worker, William Parsley, said the man left without working.
"He can vote," Harris County clerk Stan Stannart said. "What the system has put in place is to vote provisionally and then get the ID and then get your ballot counted.
Stanart said a provisional ballot would have been acceptable. The provisional ballot would give a voter six days after election day to prove their identity and that the veteran could have voted at home.
"Anyone over 65 can get their ballot by mail and that's what we encourage our citizens to do who are over 65," Stannart said.
The state now requires one of seven different types of photo ID including, a personal ID available through the state, a driver's license, concealed carry license, passport, military ID or a citizenship certificate that includes a photo or a free election ID certificate available through DPS.
"All they have to do is go to DPS and get issued an ID so they can come down and prove it so that their ballot will count," Stannart said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, the county clerk's office said fewer than 20 voters out of nearly 190,000 have not been able to provide an acceptable photo ID at the time of voting. A spokesman said more than half of those 20 had an expired Texas driver's license or an out-of-state license.
Click here for a visual explanation of the acceptable identifications, to look at the ballot in your neighborhood and for your polling place.