VOTING RIGHTS

Texas Voter ID Law Struck Down

Violates Voting Rights Act, federal court said.

Texas’s restrictive voter ID law was struck down on Wednesday by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals. In a 203-page opinion, the federal court found the law to be in direct violation of the Voting Rights Act because it discriminates against minorities. “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,” the opinion states. The decision was hailed as a significant win for Democrats, who have long argued that voter ID laws disenfranchise minority voters. The Texas law was first passed in 2011 by the state’s legislature. Republicans believe similar legislation is necessary in order to curb voter fraud.