Court rejects voter ID appeal

W A S H I N G T O N — T h e Supreme C our t on Monday rejected an appeal from Texas in its effort to restore its strict voter identification law.

The justices said they will not review a lower court ruling that held the law was discriminatory. That court ordered changes in the law before the November election.

Chief Justice John Roberts said in a brief statement that the court could take up the case at a later date because the case is continuing in federal district court in Texas. A hearing that had been set for today was rescheduled for next month.

Texas softened what election experts said was among the toughest voter ID meas u re s i n t h e n a t i o n . But Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton had wanted the Supreme Court to restore the law to its original state.

A s w r i t t e n , t h e l a w required showing one of seven forms of photo identification, allowing concealed handgun licenses but not college student IDs.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled last year by a 9-6 vote that Texas had violated the federal Voting Rights Act based on testimony that Hispanics were t wice as likely and blacks three times more likely than whites to lack an acceptable ID under the law. Lower-income Texas residents also were more likely to lack necessary documents to obtain a free state voting ID, according to experts who supported the challenge.

The Supreme Court has been without a ninth justice since Justice Antonin Scalia’s death nearly a year ago. President Donald Trump has said he will nominate a successor soon.