The Texas voter ID law was passed on May 27, 2011, when Governor Rick Perry signed Senate Bill 14 after the 82nd Legislature approved it earlier that month.1Texas Legislature Online. Bill History for SB 14, 82nd Legislature The law was set to take effect on January 1, 2012, but federal courts blocked it twice before it took hold in 2013, and the Texas Legislature rewrote large parts of it in 2017. The rules Texans follow at the polls today are the product of that full sequence, not the original 2011 bill.
The 2011 Passage of Senate Bill 14
Senator Troy Fraser filed SB 14 in January 2011, and Perry designated voter identification an “emergency item” so the bill could move early in the session. The Senate committee approved it 20–12. The House Select Committee on Voter Identification and Voter Fraud sent it to the floor on a 6–2 vote, and the House passed an amended version on March 24, 2011. A conference committee reconciled the two chambers’ bills in May, and Perry signed the final measure on May 27, 2011, with Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst and House Speaker Joe Straus present.
Republican legislators had attempted similar bills in 2005, 2007, and 2009, but Democratic procedural tactics blocked them each time. After the 2010 elections produced larger Republican majorities, the bill moved through with little procedural resistance.2Texas Tribune. Texas Proposed Findings of Fact
What the Original Law Required
As enacted, SB 14 required voters to show one of five government-issued photo IDs at the polls:3Texas Capitol. SB 14 Enrolled Bill Text
- A Texas driver license or personal identification card from the Department of Public Safety
- A U.S. military ID with a photo
- A U.S. citizenship certificate with a photo
- A U.S. passport
- A Texas concealed handgun license
The ID had to be current or expired no more than 60 days. A voter whose name on the ID did not exactly match the voter rolls but was “substantially similar” could still vote after signing an affidavit. A voter without acceptable ID could cast a provisional ballot and had six days to present valid identification to the county voter registrar. Narrow exemptions covered certain disabilities, religious objections to being photographed, and lost documents due to a declared natural disaster. To address access concerns, the bill created a free Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS for voters who had no other qualifying ID.
Why the Law Was Blocked Until 2013
In 2011, Texas was one of the states required to obtain federal “preclearance” under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act before changing an election law. The state had to prove to either the U.S. Department of Justice or a federal court in Washington, D.C., that the change would not make it harder for minority voters to participate.
Texas submitted SB 14 to the Justice Department first. Attorney General Eric Holder objected, blocking the law. Texas then sued in Texas v. Holder, asking a three-judge panel in D.C. to clear it. After a one-week trial in July 2012, the panel ruled on August 30, 2012, that Texas had relied on “faulty data and unreliable testimony” and had not shown the law would avoid disproportionate harm to minority voters. Preclearance was denied, and SB 14 could not be used in the November 2012 elections.4GovInfo. Texas v. Holder Opinion
The block held until June 25, 2013, when the U.S. Supreme Court decided Shelby County v. Holder. The 5–4 opinion struck down the coverage formula that determined which states needed preclearance, calling it based on “40-year-old facts having no logical relation to the present day.”5Justia. Shelby County v. Holder Texas began enforcing SB 14 that same day.
Years of Litigation After Enforcement Began
Civil rights groups filed new suits within months, this time under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the Constitution. The cases were consolidated as Veasey v. Abbott, with plaintiffs including the Texas NAACP, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Campaign Legal Center, and the U.S. Department of Justice.6Brennan Center for Justice. Texas NAACP v. Steen (Consolidated With Veasey v. Abbott)
After a trial in September 2014, U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos issued a 147-page opinion on October 9, 2014, striking down SB 14. She found the law had a discriminatory effect on Hispanic and African American voters, was passed with discriminatory intent, imposed an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote, and operated as an unconstitutional poll tax under the 24th Amendment.7Texas Tribune. Federal Judge Rules Texas Voter ID Law Unconstitutional The court found roughly 608,470 registered Texas voters lacked qualifying photo ID, about 4.5 percent of the electorate, and that Black voters were 305 percent more likely and Latino voters 195 percent more likely than white voters to lack the required ID. The state’s free Election Identification Certificate program had issued only 279 certificates by the time of trial, partly because the underlying documents needed to obtain one, such as a birth certificate, could cost between $2 and $47.8Brennan Center for Justice. Unconstitutional Burden on the Right to Vote
Texas appealed. The Fifth Circuit kept SB 14 in effect for the 2014 midterms, and in August 2015 a three-judge panel unanimously affirmed that the law had a racially discriminatory impact under Section 2, while sending the intentional-discrimination question back for further review. In July 2016, the full Fifth Circuit, sitting en banc, reached the same conclusion in a 9–6 decision and ordered interim relief for the 2016 presidential election: voters without photo ID could cast a regular ballot by signing a declaration and presenting alternative documents such as a utility bill or bank statement.9Campaign Legal Center. Veasey v. Abbott
On remand, Judge Ramos ruled again on April 10, 2017, that “Texas legislators enacted SB 14 with the intent to discriminate against minority voters.”10Campaign Legal Center. Federal Court in Texas Finds Voter ID Law Was Passed With Discriminatory Intent The NAACP Legal Defense Fund noted that five federal courts had found SB 14 discriminatory, and none sided with Texas in defending the original law.11NAACP Legal Defense Fund. United States v. Texas / Veasey v. Abbott
The 2017 Revision: Senate Bill 5
Facing those rulings, the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 5 in 2017. It took effect on January 1, 2018, and codified the interim remedy the Fifth Circuit had ordered for the 2016 election.12Texas Secretary of State. Election Advisory 2018-08 The main changes:
- A Reasonable Impediment Declaration process lets a voter who does not possess and cannot reasonably obtain one of the accepted photo IDs present a supporting document and sign a declaration citing a reason such as lack of transportation, a disability, a work schedule conflict, or a lost or stolen ID. Poll workers may not question the reasonableness of the stated impediment.
- Supporting documents accepted with the declaration include a voter registration certificate, a current utility bill, a bank statement, a government check, a paycheck, or a certified birth certificate.
- The expiration window for a photo ID expanded from 60 days to four years for voters aged 18 to 69. Voters 70 and older may use an expired ID regardless of how long it has been expired.
- Intentionally making a false statement on the declaration is a criminal offense. The original bill set this as a third-degree felony, but the House amended it to a Class A misdemeanor carrying up to one year in jail.13Texas Tribune. Texas House Backs Voter ID Overhaul Changes
Judge Ramos blocked SB 5 in August 2017, finding it carried forward the discriminatory features of SB 14. A divided Fifth Circuit panel reversed in April 2018, allowing the revised law to be implemented, and the district court entered final judgment dismissing the case in September 2018.6Brennan Center for Justice. Texas NAACP v. Steen (Consolidated With Veasey v. Abbott)
The 2021 Mail-In Ballot ID Requirement
The in-person photo ID framework has not changed since SB 5, but mail voting has. Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1, the “Election Integrity Protection Act,” on September 7, 2021. The law did not alter the in-person photo ID rules, but it added an identification requirement for mail-in voting: voters must provide a driver’s license number or the last four digits of their Social Security number on both the mail ballot application and the ballot itself, and the number must match what is on file in the voter’s registration record.14Democracy Docket. Texas Omnibus Voter Suppression Law SB 1 Will Be Put to the Test at Federal Trial
In the 2022 primary, roughly 23,000 mail-in ballots, about 13 percent of those cast, were rejected, largely because the ID numbers did not match. A federal judge in the Western District of Texas blocked the matching requirement in August 2023, finding it violated the materiality provision of the Civil Rights Act. The Fifth Circuit upheld the requirement in August 2025, and the litigation continues under La Unión del Pueblo Entero v. Abbott.15Texas Attorney General. Attorney General Ken Paxton Successfully Defends Texas’s Voter ID Requirement for Mail Ballots
What Texas Voters Must Show Today
Texas now accepts seven forms of photo ID at the polls:16VoteTexas.gov. Need ID
- Texas driver license
- Texas Election Identification Certificate
- Texas personal identification card
- Texas handgun license
- U.S. military identification card with photo
- U.S. citizenship certificate with photo
- U.S. passport (book or card)
For voters aged 18 to 69, those IDs may be expired up to four years. Voters 70 and older may use an otherwise valid ID that has been expired for any length of time. A voter who does not have and cannot reasonably obtain one of the seven may still cast a regular ballot by presenting a supporting document and signing a Reasonable Impediment Declaration. A voter who simply forgot an ID may return with it before polls close, or cast a provisional ballot and present identification at the county voter registrar’s office within six calendar days after the election.17Texas Secretary of State. Voter Identification Resources
The free Election Identification Certificate is still available by appointment at more than 230 Texas Department of Public Safety offices. Applicants must show documents proving U.S. citizenship, identity, and Texas residency. The certificate is valid for six years, or indefinitely for citizens 70 and older, and can be used only for voting.18Texas DPS. Election Identification Certificate