Federal Court Rejects Texas Election Law that Could Disenfranchise Minority Voters

A special three-judge panel of the U.S. District Court in Washington rejected a controversial Texan law that would require voters to show photographic identification before casting ballots. The law would require voters to present one of six forms of photo ID before casting their ballots.

Critics of the proposed law said it would limit blacks and Hispanics' right to vote.

Circuit Judge David Tatel said Evidence showed the law's impact would "fall most heavily on the poor and that a disproportionately high percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics in Texas live in poverty.

It has been reported that about 13 percent of Texas' black voters, and 7 percent of its Latinos, do not have an automobile in the household and the state drivers' license offices are not open on weekends.

"Poorer citizens, especially those working for hourly wages, will likely be less able to take time off work to travel to a DPS office," Tatel said. "A law that forces poorer citizens to choose between their wages and their franchise unquestionably denies or abridges the right to vote."

According to Reuters, Republican Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott said he will appeal the decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

"Today's decision is wrong on the law and improperly prevents Texas from implementing the same type of ballot integrity safeguards that are employed by Georgia and Indiana, and were upheld by the Supreme Court," he said.

This is the second time this week that a Texan election law has been rejected. A different panel of the same court rejected Texas' redistricting maps, saying they discriminated against blacks and Hispanics. Reportedly, Texas will as a result likely use interim maps drawn up by a San Antonio federal court for the November 6 elections.

Elise Boddie, director of litigation for the NAACP, said: "The whole point of our democracy is to make sure that voters have the opportunity to vote, and that's what today's ruling does."

According to the Justice Department, at least 1.4 million registered voters in the state lack any state-issued voter identification and those voters are disproportionately Hispanic and black.

South Carolina, Pennsylvania, Mississippi, Wisconsin and New Hampshire are waiting to see whether the Justice Department will oppose their laws. The election requirements were passed by Republican-controlled legislatures.