Judge again tosses voter ID law
Says revised bill discriminates against black, Hispanic voters
AUSTIN — A federal judge on Wednesday again tossed out Texas’ voter ID law, ruling that a watered-down version the Legislature passed this year still discriminates against black and Latino voters.
U.S. District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi said Senate Bill 5, approved in this year’s regular legislative session, did not fix the discriminatory aspects of Senate Bill 14, passed in 2011, which created one of the strictest voter ID laws in the nation.
Attorney General Ken Paxton immediately called the ruling “outrageous” and pledged to appeal it. Groups representing minority voters, however, cheered the decision as a victory.
The ruling comes after a judicial panel invalidated two of Texas’ congressional districts. Together, the legal issues could affect upcoming elections in Texas, including primaries for state and
federal offices set to take place in March.
Republicans in Texas have for years fought to require voters to show certain documents before casting a ballot, citing concerns over voter fraud.
The latest iteration, known as Senate Bill 5, still requires voters to present one of seven acceptable forms of photo ID to cast a ballot. But it lets people without such identification vote, so long as they sign an affidavit and bring paperwork, such as a utility bill or paycheck, showing the person’s name and address.
Paxton and the Trump administration’s Department of Justice argued those changes cured the law of any discriminatory effect or intent, but in her 27-page ruling Ramos disagreed.
“The provisions of SB 5 fall far short of mitigating the discriminatory provisions of SB 14,” she wrote.
The judge went point by point, explaining why she was ruling that SB 5 didn’t cut it.
The legislation trades one obstacle to voting with another, she wrote, “replacing the lack of qualified photo ID with an overreaching affidavit threatening severe penalties for perjury.” The result could be a chilling effect on voters, who out of fear or misunderstanding might not show up on election day, she wrote.
She cited the requirement for a voter to attest on the Declaration of Reasonable Impediment form the reason why he or she doesn’t have one of the limited forms of photo ID that the state accepts — something the judge said doesn’t have anything to do with the stated purpose of preventing voter fraud.
“Requiring a voter to address more issues than necessary under penalty of perjury and enhancing that threat by making the crime a state jail felony appear to be efforts at voter intimidation,” she wrote. “The record reflects historical evidence of the use of many kinds of threats and intimidation against minorities at the polls — particularly having to do with threats of law enforcement and criminal penalties.”
Ramos, who first tossed out the law in 2014, also criticized SB 5 for not meaningfully expanding the number of acceptable photo IDs, which allow for a concealed handgun license, but not a college student ID, for example. It also doesn’t allow for federal or Texas state government IDs, “even those it issues to its own employees,” she noted in the ruling.
Overall, she ruled, the approved list “perpetuates the selection of types of ID most likely to be possessed by Anglo voters and, disproportionately, not possessed by Hispanics and AfricanAmericans,” she wrote.
Paxton insisted the changes made to Texas voter ID law this year resolved all issues raised by the 5th Circuit Court.
“The U.S. Department of Justice is satisfied that the amended voter ID law has no discriminatory purpose or effect,” he said in a statement.
“Safeguarding the integrity of elections in Texas is essential to preserving our democracy. The 5th Circuit should reverse the entirety of the district court’s ruling.”
Plaintiffs in the case, including Congressman Marc Veasey, DFort Worth, said the ruling demonstrates again that the voter ID law intentionally discriminates against Texas citizens.
“As the lead plaintiff in Veasey v. Abbott, I am proud that we have so far successfully challenged and blocked these illegal efforts to restrict voting. It is time for Texas Republican leaders to end shameful efforts to hold power through voter suppression,” Veasey said in a statement.
Rolando Rios, a lawyer representing the Texas Association of Hispanic County Judges and Commissioners, is confident the ruling will be upheld on appeal.
“We are very pleased with the ruling, it eliminates the voter ID law by root and branch because of the intent to discriminate against Hispanics,” he said.