Texas Voter ID Law Rejected

Posted on Aug 30, 2012

richiec (CC BY-SA 2.0)

A federal court ruled Thursday against a Texas voter ID law pushed by Republicans that would have disproportionately affected minority and low-income voters. Under the law, which was passed by the state’s Legislature last year, voters would have had to show a photo ID to election officials in order to cast their ballot in the November election.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said he would appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.

—Posted by Tracy Bloom.

ABC News:

The unanimous three judge district court ruled, “The State of Texas enacted a voter ID law that — at least to our knowledge — is the most stringent in the country.  That law will almost certainly have retrogressive effect: it imposes strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor, and racial minorities in Texas are disproportionately likely to live in poverty.”

In the weeks leading up to the election, the law — passed by a Republican-led Texas legislature — has gained particular attention as supporters said it was meant to protect voter integrity, while critics claimed it would lead to voter suppression. The Voter ID law requires people voting in person to provide certain government-issued photo IDs when the come to the polls.

...“The Texas case is important because it focuses attention on the potentially racial disparate impact of the laws, and it also highlights how some rules apply to some states and not to others,” said Nathaniel Persily of Columbia Law School.

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