Plaintiffs in a federal lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Texas voter ID law applauded a Corpus Christi federal judge’s vigilance to retain a September trial date — the U.S. Department of Justice is now hoping to postpone the case because of logistics issues. This week, Federal District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos in Corpus Christi wanted to know if everyone was still on track for the Sept. 2 trial. Attorneys with the DOJ asked again to have the trial postponed until January 2015 because they say the state of Texas has not begun to exchange information needed for the case. Jose Garza, an attorney with the Mexican American Legislative Caucus, said Gonzales-Ramos is sticking to the pre-general election trial date.
“Some of the arguments that were made — for instance opposing moving the date — is that other trials have gone forward in a more truncated time period,” Garza said.
Something similar happened in the lawsuit challenging redistricting in 2011. As far as what that data shows regarding the disenfranchisement of voters, Garza said the attorney general’s office doesn’t seem to care.
“Their position is now they don’t really care what the data shows,” Garza said. “The state is now free to enact Senate Bill 14 regardless of what that data shows, that there’s nothing in the Voting Rights Act that can prevent that and that there’s nothing in the constitution that can prevent that.”
Full Article: Voter ID Trial Remains On Track Despite Federal Attempt To Postpone | Texas Public Radio.
