5th Circuit Decision Could Leave Hundreds of Thousands Without Right to Vote in Texas

Long article:

5th Circuit Decision Could Leave Hundreds of Thousands Without Right to Vote in Texas
http://bradblog.com/?p=11304

While its recent decision upheld a lower court finding that the state's Photo ID law was discriminatory, more than 600,000 lawfully registered voters could be disenfranchisement in 2016 anyway... Ernest A. Canning on 8/21/2015

The recent decision by a unanimous three judge panel of the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeal in Veasey v. Abbott was greeted as "very good news." After all, it marked the first occasion in which a federal appellate court made an express finding that a state-enacted polling place Photo ID law violated the provisions of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA).

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It was within the province of the District Court to decide whether Republicans had been less than sincere in arguing that they honestly believed SB 14 had to be passed on an emergency basis to address what was confirmed to be a non-existent threat. The lower court's "discriminatory purpose" finding is, in fact, "plausible in light of the entire record." The fact that the District Court may have relied upon additional factors, such as the state's long history of racial discrimination or what the panel describes as the post-SB 14 speculations by its opponents, at most, amounted to harmless error. The panel should have affirmed the "discriminatory purpose" finding and immediately reinstated the original permanent injunction on the law.

By failing to do so and, thus, allowing the protracted legal battle to continue with voters remaining at risk of disenfranchisement, the panel has left open the prospect that more than 600,000 perfectly legal registered voters may once again be deprived of their right to participate in the 2016 election.