The rules would bar election officials from asking questions about their identification, and instead requires voters be given a regular ballot.
Advertisement
Along with the affidavit, voters would present an alternate form of ID: voter registration card, birth certificate, a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or some “any other government document that shows the name of the voter and an address”.
“Reasonable impediment declarations” shall be translated into Spanish, Chinese and Vietnamese in Texas counties required to do so in accordance with Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act.
Rushing to establish the rules of the road for the upcoming national elections, Federal courts in recent weeks have issued a cascade of decisions rolling back restrictive voting laws enacted in the aftermath of a major Supreme Court decision.
“This is a huge improvement from what the law was before”, said Luis Vera, one of the attorneys in the lawsuit against Texas.
More than 30 states have some form of voter ID rules.
The court’s move to strike down the state’s voter ID law was a victory for rights advocates that will enable thousands of people to vote more easily and could boost Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s support in the state going into the election.
Some of the GOP-sponsored state laws are more blatantly discriminatory than others. Last month, an appeals court ruled the law passed in 2011 unconstitutional.
Editor’s note: Logan Churchwell serves as the Communications Director for Houston-based True the Vote – a nonprofit that attempted to intervene in defense of the voter ID law in 2013. There have only been two convictions for fraud out of 20 million votes cast in the decades before state lawmakers crafted the law.
A spokesman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
In defense of these laws, the states have said that they are aimed at preventing voter fraud, but court decisions this year have pointed to study after study showing there is virtually no evidence of so-called in-person voter fraud in modern times. “This case is not over. In light of the Fifth Circuit’s recent decision, we are working hard on saving all the important aspects of our voter ID”. Voters without any of the newly added identification methods can still vote through a provisional ballot, which are counted by a ballot board.
African American, Hispanic and poor voters were most likely to be affected, the court found. “I can not support any bill that restricts the right to vote”, she said.
Dunn said the deal makes it easier for people who do not have the means to acquire one of the four identification methods SB 14 allows.
Advertisement
Opponents of the law say more than 600,000 registered voters in Texas had lacked the photo identification that was required to cast a ballot. Under Wednesday’s agreement, Texas must spell out those plans, which are subject to court approval, by August 15.
