HOUSTON — A federal appeals court upheld a revamped version of Texas’ voter identification law on Friday, saying that it does not discriminate against black and Hispanic voters.
The decision by a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, in New Orleans, overturned a lower-court ruling that had struck down the new law. It was the latest milestone in a yearslong legal battle over the state’s efforts to require voters to show government-issued identification in order to cast a ballot.
[…]
The Legislature then loosened the restrictions last year by passing a new law, known as Senate Bill 5, that allowed voters who lacked one of the seven approved forms of ID to cast a ballot if they signed an affidavit stating why they could not obtain an approved ID. Those voters must show an alternative form of identification, including a utility bill or a bank statement.
Continue reading: Texas’ Voter ID Law Does Not Discriminate and Can Stand, Appeals Panel Rules
Five times in four years a federal court has found Texas’ voting laws discriminatory:
http://www.newsweek.com/voter-id-laws-texas-discrimination-voter-id-discrimination-racial-581999
This is also very reflective of Texas’ long, long history of extremely poor voter turnout rates over the last 2-3 decades. In fact, Texas is one of the leading states in the nation for shitty voter-turnout every election year. I am an 8th-generation Texan, lived here most of my life, and the truth is that minorities here don’t have a huge incentive to commit voter fraud because they honestly have much, MUCH bigger, immediate daily survival threats to worry about than voting on 1 day every 2 or 4 years!!! That’s the reality. Republicans here have manufactured this false “voter fraud” story in order to make licensing — for everything in the state! — near impossible!
Well, no… that last sentence isn’t exactly true. Anybody in Texas can indeed register and purchase multiple weapons, including assault rifles, .50-cals, howitzers, and German S-mines known here as Jumpin Jellybeaners. Hell, you probably don’t even need a photo-ID to purchase any of those items! My bad for that mis-statement. 😤😖
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks, Professor. It’s disturbing, to say the least, that our judicial system struggles to see discriminatory intent when it is so plainly obvious to everyone else (including sponsoring Republicans behind closed doors!).
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on sdbast.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I understand that there are some people in Texas that don’t bother to vote because they have more pressing matters of survival on their minds, but what’s stopping anyone from getting one of those 7 approved voter IDs? Confused Canadian.
LikeLiked by 1 person
From: VoteTexas.gov
So John, to answer your question, this doesn’t appear to be a very high bar for voting. Texans who really want to vote should be able to. However, there are other relevant aspects of this new voter id law which need to be pointed out:
1) It’s a solution without a problem. Study after study has shown that instances of voter fraud are statistically insignificant across America. So, what’s the rationale for voter id?
2) Civic participation and voter turnout in America are very low especially in Texas. More hurdles to voting would only exacerbate this problem.
3) Republicans have been caught repeatedly over the last few years boasting to their supporters that new voter id laws will suppress opposition turnout, primarily minorities and the poor.
LikeLike