Whether or not the state’s voter ID bill will be in place for the November general election is still a mystery. That’s because the U.S. Department of Justice — which is being sued by Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office after it declined to approve the measure — is accusing the state of stalling the delivery of key data the federal government says is necessary for the trial. Late last month, DOJ asked the district court in Washington D.C. that will hear the care to postpone the trial, which is scheduled to commence July 9. The feds have argued that Abbott’s office is reluctant to turn over information because it knows it will hurt its case. Abbott has argued that the request is nothing more than political theater.
“They initially requested a later trial date, knowing full well that such a late trial would foreclose any possibility of Texas implementing SB 14 in time for this year’s general election,” the AG’s response reads. “Having lost the initial battle in this Court over the trial date, their fallback strategy is transparent: bombard the State with massive discovery requests.” In an order dated May 1, the court did not sound too receptive to the Obama administration’s request. “At this juncture, the Court is disinclined to grant the motions and is committed, if at all possible, to decide this case in time for the law, if pre-cleared, to be effective for the November 2012 elections,” the court wrote.
Full Article: Still No Answers in Voter ID Case | Texas Weekly | Vol: 29 Issue: 18.
