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The U.S. Department of Justice announced on Thursday that it will again seek to dismantle Texas’ voter ID law, this time with a lawsuit alleging the measure violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. The department also said on Thursday that it will seek to have Texas’ redistricting maps declared unconstitutional.
Section 2 of the 1965 act prohibits voting laws that discriminate based on race, color or membership in a minority group. Thursday’s decision by the U.S. Department of Justice comes after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in June that allowed implementation of the state law that requires voters to furnish a valid photo ID before casting a ballot. Prior to that ruling, the department and, separately, a three-judge panel of federal judges in Washington had struck down the 2011 state law after denying Texas’ request for preclearance. The high court’s ruling eliminated the preclearance requirement.
“Today’s action marks another step forward in the Justice Department’s continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all eligible Americans,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement about the voter ID provision. “We will not allow the Supreme Court’s recent decision to be interpreted as open season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights.”
The DOJ also said that it will seek “declaration that Texas’s 2011 redistricting plans for the U.S. Congress and the Texas State House of Representatives were adopted with the purpose of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.” That, too, is in violation of Section 2 and the 14th and 15th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, the department alleges.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott rejected the federal agency’s allegations of racism.
“Just days after the U.S. Department of Justice arrested a Texas woman for illegally voting five times in the same election, the Obama administration is suing to stop Texas’ commonsense voter ID law,” Abbott said in a statement, referring to the arrest on Tuesday of a Brownsville woman for her alleged actions during a 2012 runoff. “The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that voter ID laws do not suppress legal votes, but do help prevent illegal votes. Voter IDs have nothing to do with race and they are free to anyone who needs one.”
(Read more of the story at The Texas Tribune)
MORE COVERAGE HERE:
- Justice Department will challenge Texas Voter ID law (Washington Post)
- Justice Department Goes After Texas Voting Laws Again (KUHF Public Radio)
- Abbott Says Fed Voter ID Lawsuit Is Just Democrat Campaign Tactics (Texas Public Radio)
- Justice Dept. Suing Texas Over Voter ID Law (KUT Austin)
- U.S. Justice Department to sue Texas over voter ID (Austin Statesman)
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TEXAS HEADLINES:
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NATION & WORLD:
- Obama’s Plan Aims to Lower Cost of College (New York Times)