New Orleans (WBAP/KLIF) – After multiple court challenges to the law, Texas officials are asking federal appeals judges in New Orleans today to let the state’s latest voter ID law take effect.
A hearing today centers on a law re-worked in may by the Texas legislature. The new version allows residents who don’t have an acceptable photo id to vote by signing an affidavit stating they cannot reasonably obtain one.
The same federal judge who blocked the 2011 version of the law blocked the re-worked version in august. She said the law still is more of a burden to Latinos or African-Americans.
Civil rights groups applauded the decision at the time, saying that the law, SB 14, was enacted with racially discriminatory intent in violation of the United States Constitution. The NAACP released a statement which read in part:
“The U.S. Department of Justice’s decision to withdraw its longstanding allegation that SB 14 was enacted with racially discriminatory intent serves only to demonstrate the willingness of some public officials to play politics with the most sacred and foundational right in our democracy – the right to vote. But the NAACP and its partners will oppose most strenuously any effort to make voting more difficult for our fellow citizens, no matter what their color or political persuasion. We congratulate our Texas State Conference and its litigation partners for their steadfast and immovable advocacy.”
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