I recently found myself unexpectedly at the center of a national controversy.

I testified at a hearing held by the Texas House Elections Committee on a bill that would impose significant restrictions on the identification voters must provide at the polls. Numerous studies have shown that such legislation disenfranchises minority, low-income, and elderly voters and voters with disabilities. Asian Americans encountered particular problems voting in 2008 in states with such laws, such as Florida, but because no one had testified on how the legislation would impact Asian American voters, I signed up to speak at the hearing.

Little did I expect that two days later, stories about questions State Rep. Betty Brown asked me regarding Asian names would be blasted by media nationwide. Since then, when asked how I felt about Rep. Brown's remarks, I said I found it jarring, but just because some people may have limited experience with another culture, it doesn't necessarily mean they're racist. Though I can only speak for myself, I believe she may have been trying, in her own uninformed way, to address some of the issues I raised in my testimony.

However, Rep. Brown should carefully rethink her image of who is and isn't an American, because her comments indicate that certain assumptions, even when innocent, can lead to real and damaging consequences. For example, I am still bothered by the continued lack of understanding about how Voter ID legislation will deprive many Asian Americans of the right to vote. As I stated in my testimony, Asian Americans often encounter problems voting in states with ID laws because of mismatches between the name on the required ID and the voter rolls.

Many Asian Americans adopt "anglicized" names such as John or Mary for convenience, which may also be the names used on their drivers licenses, but not the voter rolls. Other Asian Americans who choose to transliterate their Chinese, Japanese, or Korean names into the Roman alphabet encounter problems because the unfamiliarity of the structure and spelling of such names leads to errors in government records or because the voter has changed the transliteration over time based on what works better for others.

Rep. Brown's comments imply that she believes these problems could be solved by coming up with an easier way to transliterate Asian names. Others have suggested that if Asian American voters are using multiple names, then some restriction should be imposed.

These arguments miss the point. Many of those who work with immigrants already advise people to be consistent in the name they use on different documentation, but we still have millions of naturalized citizens who already have this problem. Not everyone has the luxury of an expensive attorney or the ability to find free resources to help new immigrants learn and navigate the path to naturalized citizenship, and few people understand the full legal significance of every piece of paper from day one.

Not long ago, before 9/11 and the Information Age, identification wasn't as central to American life. Unlike many foreign countries where citizens are tracked cradle to grave, Americans took pride in our freedom from Big Brother's "papers." That's why many Americans still oppose a national ID card, and many didn't give paperwork and record-keeping much thought. Many Americans will discover plenty of discrepancies they never bothered to check or correct if they go back through their records, such as maiden or married name changes.

Finally, and most importantly, existing Texas election law already requires voters to prove their identity by using a voter registration card or another form of ID. A few typos and clerical errors notwithstanding, there is no firm evidence of voter impersonation. However, legislators like Betty Brown want to impose far-reaching, radical changes to the way we vote while glossing over major unintended consequences by blithely telling voters like me that we should just come up with some way to "make it easier," even if that affects our names. Other problems will affect the elderly, the poor, and others if this legislation passes. But the Voter ID advocates, driven by a political agenda, imply that those problems are our fault for wanting to vote, and our fault if we lose the right to vote.

Ramey Ko is a member of the OCA-Greater Houston Chapter; founded in 1973 as the Organization of Chinese Americans, OCA is now a national organization dedicated to advancing the social, political, and economic well-being of Asian Pacific Americans.

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