It sounds simple and a lot of states are doing it:  requiring a government-issued I.D. in order to vote.  A landmark Supreme Court decision just upheld voter I.D. laws in Indiana.  And now, it’s fueling a new push for the measure here in Texas.

Voter I.D. measures require citizens to show a driver’s license or passport in order to cast ballots.  As Texas law is now, just a voter registration card will do.

Whether requiring I.D. is needed depends on whom you ask.  Republicans back the measures.

“The integrity of the process demands that we do what is necessary in order to protect voter’s rights,” said Tina Benkiser, chairperson for the Texas Republican Party.

Democrats, however, say it’s a solution in search of a problem.

“The kind of voting fraud that these bills attempt to solve simply isn't a problem in the opinion of every single credible election authority in the country,” said State Representative Mark Strama, D-Austin.

In fact, the Texas Attorney General is investigating just one case of voter impersonation fraud in the entire state.

Last session, the debate hit the Texas house floor with a fury.  When it reached the senate, a Democratic senator returned from months of medical leave just to block voter I.D. from passing.

When lawmakers return from the State Capitol next January, things will be different. That's because the U.S. Supreme Court ruled just last month that strict voter I.D. requirements are constitutional. It's fueling a renewed call here in Texas.

“A lot of states will take the opportunity to pass laws directed at a sham problem that actually keep eligible Americans out of the polls,” said Justin Leavitt, who studies voter I.D. for the non-partisan NYU Brennan Center for Justice.  His research shows seniors, minorities and the poor, who more often vote Democratic, are also those who lack I.D.

Republican leaders promise Texas voter I.D. laws would provide I.D. for those who can’t afford them.

“We have created a variety of safeguards for them so that at the end of the day everyone who has the right to vote, can vote,” said Benkiser.

But it’s a political paradox, efforts to protect an American right could also take that right away.