Texas Voter Photo ID Law Quashed

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A U.S. District Court in Washington has blocked a law requiring voters to show photo identification before casting ballots in Texas. The argument suggested that the proposed law could curtail the ability of minorities to vote, with emphasis on African Americans and Hispanics, who often live in poverty, according to Cicuit Judge David Tatel.

He explained that the underlying docutments needed to obtain an ID could be costly and discourage poor voters, the administration resembling an illegal poll tax.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott responded that he would appeal the decision directly to the U.S. Supreme Court since the states of Georgia and Indiana have similar integrity safeguards and thsee have been upheld by the Supreme Court.

The requirement that Texas voters would have to present one of six forms of photo ID before casting their ballots was adopted in 2011 by the Republican-dominated Texas legislature.

Although Texas Governor Rick Perry called the federal court ruling “another victory for fraud,” Elise Boddie, director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund pointed out that “The whole point of our democracy is to make sure that voters have the opportunity to vote, and that’s what today’s ruling does.”