Federal Appeals Court Rules Texas Voter ID Law Violates Voting Rights Act

[L. Coyote]

A real victory with more to come in this case back in the courts in Texas.

Federal Appeals Court Rules Texas Voter ID Law Violates Voting Rights Act
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/texas-voter-id_55c25245e4b0d9b28f052fa2

WASHINGTON -- A federal appeals court on Wednesday found that Texas’ strict voter identification law violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, in a victory for civil rights groups who had challenged the law.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit did not make a determination as to whether Texas legislators had a discriminatory purpose .... the appeals court did find that the Texas voter ID law would have a discriminatory impact, in violation of the Voting Rights Act.

In declining to find Texas legislators had a discriminatory purpose in passing the legislation, members of the appeals court said they recognized “the charged nature of accusations of racism, particularly against a legislative body,” but they also acknowledged “the sad truth that racism continues to exist in our modern American society despite years of laws designed to eradicate it.”

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..... the Supreme Court allowed the law to be in effect for November’s midterm election, even though more than 600,000 Texans lacked a valid form of government-issued photo identification.

On Wednesday, the federal appeals court said that while the purpose of passing the legislation was to protect the sanctity of voting and avoid voter fraud, it questions whether there were “impermissible motives” as well. ..............