How Far Do Texans Have to Go to Get a Voter ID?

Our weekly check-in with the Texas Truth-O-Meter.

By Alain StephensMarch 1, 2017 9:30 am,

During a CNN debate among candidates to chair the Democratic National Committee, Tom Perez – a leading candidate who served as secretary of labor and assistant attorney general for civil rights under President Barack Obama – emphasized the importance of protecting voting rights.

Perez cited efforts, typically led by Republicans, to require voters to show state-issued ID cards at the polls. Democrats say such policies suppress the vote. Republicans say they cut down on voter fraud.

“I’ve spent a substantial portion of my life doing these cases at (the) Department of Justice,” Perez said at the debate. “Let me give you some facts and figures. We sued Texas, and we won. And we won, because over a 10-year period, 46 million votes were cast — zero, count them, zero reported incidents of illegal noncitizen voting, two incidents of in-person voter fraud, (out of) 46 million votes cast. If we weren’t on television I would call this a word that begins with a B. I will anyway. It’s bunk. And you know what, it’s bunk in every other case. And if you’re in Texas, you have got to drive 120 miles to get an ID. If you’re poor, that is a poll tax.”

Is that a fact? Gardner Selby of the PolitiFact Texas fact-checking team has the answer.

Hear how Perez’s claim scored in the player above.