Texas Voting ID Laws Struck Down by DC Circuit Court

TheUnited States District Court for the District of Columbia has struck down a new Texas law requiring voters to show a government-issued photo ID before casting their ballots. The New York Times reports:

A federal court on Thursday struck down a Texas law that would have required voters to show government-issued photo identification before casting their ballots in November, ruling that the law would hurt turnout among minority voters and impose strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor by charging those voters who lack proper documentation fees to obtain election ID cards.

The three-judge panel in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia called Texas voter-identification law the most stringent of its kind in the country, though Gov. Rick Perry and the states attorney general vowed to appeal the decision to the United States Supreme Court. The judges ruling came just two days after another three-judge panel in the same court found that the Texas Legislature had intentionally discriminated against minority voters in drawing up new political maps for Congressional and legislative districts, citing the same section of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Known as Senate Bill 14, the states voter-identification law requires voters who show up at the polls to identify themselves with one of five forms of ID, including a drivers license or a United States passport. Those lacking one of the five types of identification must obtain a so-called election identification certificate, a government-issued card similar to a drivers license. Prospective voters would need to travel to a state Department of Public Safety office to get an election ID card, and, although the card is free, they would have to verify their identity to obtain one, in some cases paying $22 to order a certified copy of their birth certificate.

In its unanimous 56-page ruling, the federal judges found that the fees and the cost of traveling for those voters lacking one of the five forms of ID disproportionately affected the poor and minorities. Moreover, while a 200 to 250 mile trip to and from a D.P.S. office would be a heavy burden for any prospective voter, such a journey would be especially daunting for the working poor, the decision read.

The ruling comes a little over a week after the same court struck down certain provisionsof Florida's 2011 election reform law as they applied to five of that state's counties. Those five Florida counties, and the entire State of Texas, are some of several jurisdictions in the Southern United States designated by theDepartment of Justice as territories with a history of discriminating against minority voting rights. Changes to any state elections laws that cover those jurisdictions must be cleared by either the U.S. Attorney General or the DC Circuit Court.

Texas's attorney general has told FOX News his state will appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court.