A Democratic congressman joined seven others Wednesday in filing a federal lawsuit to keep Texas from enforcing its voter ID law. U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth filed the papers in Corpus Christi federal court, calling the requirement to show a state-issued photo ID card at the ballot box unconstitutional. The law “would have the effect of denying thousands of Texas voters the ability to vote in person, a large number of whom would be disenfranchised entirely since absentee voting in Texas is available to only certain specified categories of voters,” according to the lawsuit.
The case comes just one day after the U.S. Supreme Court declared a section of the Voting Rights Act unconstitutional. That decision overthrew a decision by federal judges in Washington that Texas could not enforce the voter ID law.
The Washington court had determined that the voter ID law was an example of “intentional discrimination” against minorities, and used its authority under the Voting Rights Act to stop its enforcement. But when the Supreme Court ruled the act wrongfully singled out Texas and other southern state for such preclearance, the court lost jurisdiction.
Full Article: Congressman files suit to stop Texas voter ID law – SFGate.
