In Justice Ginsburg’s 6-page dissent in the Texas voter id case, she writes: “Nor will Texas accept photo ID cards issued by the U. S. Department of Veterans’ Affairs.”
A few people have pointed me to material from Texas which seems to suggest that these cards would be acceptable as a form of military identification. Veterans ID cards do not expire, and therefore they seem to meet the Texas requirement: “a United States military identification card that contains the person’s photograph that has not expired or that expired no earlier than 60 days before the date of presentation.” (my emphasis)
It seems pretty clear that veterans cards with photo IDs that do not expire are ok. But I’ve seen some references to veterans cards which lack pictures, which are not acceptable. Even if that’s correct, and I’m not sure it is, Justice Ginsburg’s statement still seems incorrect.
Can anyone from Texas clarify?
Update: The Texas Secretary of State’s office has responded via Twitter: “Veterans Affairs ID cards are an acceptable form of photo ID in TX. See slides 20 & 21 here: http://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/forms/id/acceptable-forms-of-ID.pdf …“
This seems to confirm Justice Ginsburg made a small error in her decision. I expect to see that sentence deleted or altered.