The city of Austin is looking at how to address Texas' voter identification law after passing a resolution Aug. 29 instructing the city manager to look into participating in lawsuits against the law and educating residents while the law is in effect.

Bruce Elfant, Travis County tax assessor/collector, said the county has a challenging task in implementing the new law with an upcoming election.

"The Legislature didn't give us an implementation plan, they didn't give us any resources and we have an election in just over two months here in Travis County," Elfant said.

Elfant said the county estimates that there are "tens of thousands" of registered voters in Travis County that do not have the proper identification mandated under the new law.

"We don't know who they are, and we don't know where they are," Elfant said.

The city's participation in the lawsuits against the law is intended to protect residents' voting rights. At least two lawsuits—one from U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, and one from the United States Department of Justice—are challenging the law's constitutionality.

In 2011, the Texas Legislature passed a bill that requires voters to present photo identification when voting. The law went into effect June 23 after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling.

There are seven acceptable pieces of photo identification, including a driver's license, election identification card, personal identification card, concealed handgun license, military identification card, a passport and a citizenship certificate containing a photograph. Four of those forms of ID are available through the Texas Department of Public Safety.

Travis County Clerk Dana DeBeauvoir said on election day, the name on one's photo identification has to be "substantially similar" to the name listed on the official list of registered voters.

"It just needs to be that their names match enough to prove they are the same person," DeBeauvoir said

According to a website provided the Texas Secretary of State, a voter will still be able to cast a ballot if he or she does not have the proper identification. The resident would have six days after the election to present a valid identification to the county voter registrar, or the ballot will be thrown out.

DeBeauvoir said Texas has the strictest voter ID law in the nation, and she has a few pressing concerns with the law and the education effort required with its implementation. One of the issues includes making sure voters know that a driver's license has to be current for it to be valid.

"I think there's a hidden group that could be caught with this requirement who perhaps do not realize. Perhaps they are group of folks who have recently stopped driving due to an injury or an illness," DeBeauvoir said.

The other concern DeBeauvoir has is centered on people who may have changed their names, including women who were recently married.

"It may be that their voter registration has their name different than their driver's license," DeBeauvoir said. "One of them has their old name, one of them has their new name. Well, if it's a completely different name, that's not going to be substantially similar, and you're not going to match."

Elfant said the county has a lot of work to do to prepare the public for the new restrictions.

"Our job in the next two months will be to reach out and educate the community" Elfant said. "To the people that do not have a driver's license or proper ID, [our job is] to let them know what they need to do, where they need to go to get that ID."

Elfant said the county also wants to encourage voters who have changed their names and updated forms of identification to update their voter registration card so the names are similar.

Councilman Bill Spelman asked if any other state was in a similar position as Texas, but DeBeauvoir said the state was in a unique situation.

"We're going to have the bumpiest landing of probably anybody," Spelman said.

For more information on the new voter ID law, visit https://votetexas.gov/register-to-vote/need-id/.