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| Texas Voter ID Law Blocked |
A federal court has blocked a controversial law Thursday new voter identification at Texas, holding that the State has failed to demonstrate that the law would not affect the voting rights of minorities.
The panel of three judges in the trial stated that the historical evidence also showed that the cost of obtaining a voter ID would fall most heavily on poor African-Americans and Hispanics in Texas.
Evidence presented by Texas to prove that his legislation was not discriminatory was "unconvincing, invalid, or both," wrote David. S. Tatel, Judge of the Court of Appeals for the D.C., 56 pages, the board opinion.
The decision is likely to have political implications in the upcoming elections. Republicans and populists have been arguing more difficult if the laws discriminatory voter identification Afro-Americans and Hispanics.
Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott said the state will appeal the decision to the Supreme Court on Thursday, which is the next stop in a matter of voting rights.
"Today's decision is incorrect in law and keeps improperly Texas to implement the same type of voting integrity guarantees that are used by Georgia and Indiana - and were confirmed by the Supreme Court , "Abbott said in a statement.
Texas is the largest state covered by Article 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires federal approval or "controller" voting changes in states that have a history of discrimination. Due to the history of discrimination in Texas, the voter identification law signed last year by the Republican governor, Rick Perry, had to be approved by the Ministry of Justice. Department blocked the law in March, saying it would jeopardize the voting rights of minorities. Texas Department has continued, leading to a one-week trial in July.
Tatel was associated with the decision by the Texas District Judges Rosemary Collyer American, appointed in 2002 by President George W. Bush and Robert L. Wilkins, who was appointed in 2010 by President Obama.
Earlier this week, a separate three-judge in Washington threw Texas redistricting plans saying the maps drawn by the Republican-led legislature undermined the political influence of minorities who are responsible for the growth of the population of the state.
The Obama administration opposed some laws because it says they threaten to deprive millions of Latin American and African American voters.
Challenges are part of a national legal battle climbing on voter identification laws that became more intense because it is an election yr. 8 states have passed voter identification laws last year, and critics say the new laws could affect voter turnout and other minorities, many of whom have helped Obama in 2008. But supporters of measures - seven of which were signed by Republican governors and one by an independent body - to show that requiring voters specific photo ID would prevent voter fraud.
Republican lawmakers argued that the voter ID law is necessary to clean the voters who say they are filled with the names of illegal immigrants, criminals and inadmissible deceased. Texas, they say, is demanding nothing more than people need identification to board an even, get a library card or come in more Gov buildings.
In a court-room just low the hall from where the judges heard arguments on the law of Texas voter identification, counsel for the Department of Justice and the South Carolina clash this week on a similar adopted by the state legislature last year.
The Ministry of Justice has rejected South Carolina's voter ID law in December; the first time that electoral law was rejected by the judge release in nearly 20 yrs. South Carolina sued the government to reverse the decision.
The legislation would require South Carolina voters to show one of five forms of photo ID to be allowed to vote: a state driver's license, identity card issued by the Ministry of the state of motor vehicles, a U.S. military ID, passport or another form of photo identification issued free of charge by the county election officials. Lawyers in South Carolina tell the law was necessary to prevent voter fraud and to "strengthen public confidence in the integrity of the law."
"Nobody disputes that the state must have a system for identifying eligible voters who want to vote," Chris Bartolomucci, a lawyer from South Carolina, told the panel of three judges Monday. "It's just common sense."
The Ministry of Justice and the lawyers representing civil rights groups, including the NAACP and the ACLU, opposed the court that the law discriminates against minority voters and can not be acceptable under the Act the right to vote.
"A disproportionate number of these people are members of racial minorities," said Bradley Heard, Department of Justice lawyer, describing how the law would affect the voters of South Carolina.
Last month, Attorney General Eric Holder H. Jr. gave a speech in Texas and returned to voter ID laws as "capitation tax," referring to costs in some southern states that have been used to deny blacks at the time of Jim Crow. Under Texas law, the lower limit cost for voter identification for residents of Texas without a copy of his birth certificate is $ 22, according to the Ministry of Justice.
