The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals essentially struck down the Texas Voter ID law on Wednesday.
The Fifth Circuit ordered a federal district court to come up with a remedy to stop what it called a discriminatory effect “while respecting the policy choices made by the Legislature.”
However, the ruling also said, “It is unnecessary for the district court to undertake this task until after the November 2016 election.”
The lower court will be allowed to leave the law in place for the current election so as to avoid voter confusion “despite unresolved issues related to disenfranchisement.”
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released a statement.
He said, “Preventing voter fraud is essential to accurately reflecting the will of Texas voters during elections, and it is unfortunate that this common-sense law, providing protections against fraud, was not upheld in its entirety.”
Texas enacted the voter ID law in 2011 which required voters to have photo ID when voting. The acceptable forms of photo ID included a driver license, election identification certificate (EIC), Texas ID card, license to carry a concealed handgun, U.S. military ID, U.S. citizenship certificate, or U.S. passport.
State Senator Charles Perry of Lubbock said, “Today an unelected federal court struck down key components of Texas’ Voter ID law against the will of the people. I was proud to co-author this law as a freshman legislator and fought hard for its passage.”
Perry also said, “In the upcoming session, I am confident we will be able to craft legislation in compliance with the court’s findings to ensure we meet constitutional requirements while protecting election integrity at the ballot box.”
According to the Dallas Morning News, Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said, “Texas Republicans’ discriminatory voter ID law has held some 700,000 Texans away from their right to vote for many elections now.”
Hinojosa also said, according to DMN, “Unfortunately, that damage by Republicans has already been done to our families. However, we can now look forward to a fairer election system, worthy of our great state. This is a huge win for voting rights in Texas and across our nation.”
