(Chuck Lindell, Austin American Statesman)
For the second time in three days, a federal court ruled that Texas violated the Voting Rights Act, this time by enacting a voter identification law that improperly limits the ability of minority citizens to cast a ballot.
The expense and difficulty in meeting the state’s voter ID law would weigh most heavily on the poor — and racial minorities are much more likely to live in poverty, the court ruled Thursday.
“Simply put, many Hispanics and African Americans who voted in the last election will, because of the burdens imposed by (the voter ID law), likely be unable to vote in the next election,” said the opinion by a three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Texas will appeal the decision, which prevents the state from enforcing its voter ID law in the November election.
Thursday’s ruling also sets up a high-stakes battle as the court next considers part two of Texas’ lawsuit: the claim that a key portion of the 1965 Voting Rights Act is unconstitutional.
Texas will seek to invalidate Section 5 of the act — which requires states with a history of race-based voting discrimination to get federal “pre-clearance” before enforcing laws that affect voters — as an unfair burden that many other states do not have to meet. Supporters say Section 5, as the teeth behind the Voting Rights Act, is essential to protecting civil rights advances.
The federal court panel gave all parties in the case 14 days to submit a proposed schedule for proceeding with that challenge. In the meantime, a separate challenge to Section 5 is pending before the U.S. Supreme Court and could decide the matter first. Texas has joined several other states in urging the court to accept the case out of Shelby County, Ala., and declare Section 5 unconstitutional.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said Thursday that Texas also will ask the Supreme Court to overturn the voter ID ruling.
(Read more of this story at the Austin American Statesman)
MORE COVERAGE & REACTION
- D.C. Court Rejects Texas’ Voter ID Law (Texas Tribune)
- Texas Voter-ID Law is Blocked (Washington Post)
- Common Sense Voter ID Not Always So Common (Houston Chronicle)
- Federal Court Ruled Against Texas Voter ID Law (KUHF Public Radio)
- Editorial: Stop Defending Voter ID & Discriminatory Districts (Houston Chronicle)
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