“In Texas, unlike some other states and unlike some other leaders, we are committed to cracking down on voter fraud”.
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Texas contended that the earlier decisions were incorrect and that challengers have not been able to prove the law has reduced turnout or participation in any of the three statewide or five local elections in which the law has been used.
“The decision affirms our position that Texas’s highly restrictive voter ID law abridges the right to vote on account of race or color”, U.S. Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch said in her response. The decision could be considered surprising for the appellate court, seen as one of the most conservative in the country, as the Houston Press has previously written.
In 2014, a district court found the Texas law had been intentionally enacted to disenfranchise Democratic and minority voters, especially those who are black. Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act required certain jurisdictions, including Texas, to receive federal approval for changes to voting laws before enacting them. “This is an wonderful outcome”.
“It is imperative that the state government safeguards our elections and ensures the integrity of our democratic process”, Attorney General Ken Paxton said.
A lower court judge found that about 608,000 registered voters in Texas lacked the types of identification required by the law, and that a disproportionate number were black or Hispanic. That could be a driver’s license, state-issued ID card or a passport.
The Texas Legislature reconvenes in January, though, and could modify the voter ID law enough to avoid such a challenge. If a voter doesn’t have an official identification, they will simply list or cite a reason they were unable to obtain an “official” document such as a birth certificate, work schedule, disability or illness.
Who Can’t Vote in the U.S. Elections?
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, on the other hand, said the court had “wrongly concluded” that the law had a discriminatory effect.
The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that all voters should show identification at the polls in Texas.
The majority left wide open the possibility that the trial court may reconsider the evidence and find Texas lawmakers had the intent to discriminate. It’s a serious question. “The court sent a message that discriminatory photo ID laws are an affront to our democracy and can not stand”. “This argument effectively nullifies the protections of the Voting Rights Act by giving states a free pass to enact needlessly burdensome laws with impermissible racially discriminatory impacts”. A district court judge upheld the measure in April. The U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman’s ruling allows any voter without a photo ID to cast a ballot so long as they “sign an affidavit attesting their identity”. Hours later, Texas announced that the law would go into effect.
The court also scrutinized the way the law was defended and passed.
“Today Texas voters’ fair access to the ballot box is restored”, Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, the lead plaintiff in the suit, said Wednesday. But the court said it could revisit the issue as the November elections approach. The bill was also allowed to bypass the ordinary committee process.
However, Democrats and voting rights advocates are still taking the win. Ed Espinoza, executive director of Progress Texas, noted that this wasn’t a more liberal Austin judge making this ruling. The bill was also passed without verifying the costs despite a $27 million budget shortfall.
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“Such treatment was virtually unprecedented”, the court said.
