The state of Texas can appeal the ruling to the full Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals or the U.S. Supreme Court.
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Texas’ voter ID law discriminates against black and Hispanic voters by requiring they produce certain forms of government identification at the polls, violating a key section of the Voting Rights Act, a panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled unanimously Wednesday.
The American Civil Liberties Union, which filed an amicus brief in the case to strike down the law, hailed the decision that came near the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act. It prolonged a long-winding legal battle over legislation that some called the strictest in the nation.
“Until the chairman of the Texas Democratic Party stops personally taking part in legal cases that disenfranchise voters, his words are meaningless and his entire party’s rhetoric is hollow”.
“In light of ongoing voter fraud, it is imperative that Texas has a voter ID law that prevents cheating at the ballot box”, he said in a statement.
But it also said legislators had intentionally adopted a discriminatory law, a conclusion that could have led to a restoration of federal oversight over Texas voting laws. Accepted forms of identification include a driver’s license, a US passport, a concealed-handgun license, and an election identification certificate issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety. “Texas will continue to fight for its voter ID requirement to ensure the integrity of elections in the Lone Star State”.
Texas was allowed to use the voter ID law during the 2014 elections, thereby requiring an estimated 13.6 million registered Texas voters to have a photo ID. The 5th Circuit heard arguments in April.
Although the appeals court upheld the finding of discriminatory effect, the three-judge panel said the lower court must reexamine its conclusion that Texas acted with discriminatory goal.
Noble was only on Page 22 of the court’s decision Wednesday afternoon and said he had not read any specific dates that would affect his office.
Other Republican-controlled states, including Wisconsin and North Carolina, have passed similar voter ID measures in recent years, but the Texas law signed by then-Gov. Here’s a closer look at the ruling, the law and where the case stands now.
The state argued that the new law rendered the poll tax argument moot. The Obama administration subsequently joined the case, further arguing that the law was discriminatory. To avoid confusion, the U.S. Supreme Court declared that elections should go forward under the law, and it remains enforced today.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton didn’t specify in a statement what he would do next. But the three-judge panel’s unanimous, 49-page decision also overturned a lower court’s previous assertion that the law amounted to an unconstitutional “poll tax”.
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Hasen wrote that the decision seemed written “as narrowly as possible to still give a victory to the plaintiffs”, but still called it a “significant victory for Voting Rights plaintiffs and the Department of Justice”. Perhaps less likely, Texas could see how the case plays out again in the district court.
