protectionist
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- Oct 20, 2013
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In Texas, a US District Court Judge, Nelva Gonzales Ramos, an appointee of President Obama, struck down a 2011 voter ID law, likening the law to a poll tax deliberately meant to suppress minority voter turnout. The U.S. Supreme Court blocked a similar measure in Wisconsin, granting an emergency stay sought by the American Civil Liberties Union, and blocked implementation of the state's voter ID law - overturning a decision by the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals three days earlier, that declared it constitutional.These were surprising blows to largely Republican-backed voter identification rules sweeping the nation, that have generally been upheld in previous rulings. U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder praised the court rulings.
In Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott's office said it would appeal Thursday's ruling, but in the meantime, the state may hold the election under rules that predate the voter ID law. Abbott is the favorite to replace outgoing Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the Nov. 4 election, in which he's facing Democrat Wendy Davis. His office had argued that minorities and whites alike supported the law in public opinion polls. It also pointed to other states, such as Georgia and Indiana, where the similar measures have been upheld.
But opponents slammed Texas' law as far more discriminatory. College students IDs aren't accepted by poll workers, but concealed handgun licenses are. Free voting IDs offered by the state require a birth certificate that costs little as $3, but the Justice Department argued that traveling to get those documents imposes an outsize burden on poor minorities.
As a result, attorneys argued, Texas has issued fewer than 300 free voter IDs since the law took effect.
So what do USMB readers think about this ? For voter ID laws or against them ?http://www.cbsnews.com/news/voter-id...by-the-courts/
In Texas, Attorney General Greg Abbott's office said it would appeal Thursday's ruling, but in the meantime, the state may hold the election under rules that predate the voter ID law. Abbott is the favorite to replace outgoing Texas Gov. Rick Perry in the Nov. 4 election, in which he's facing Democrat Wendy Davis. His office had argued that minorities and whites alike supported the law in public opinion polls. It also pointed to other states, such as Georgia and Indiana, where the similar measures have been upheld.
But opponents slammed Texas' law as far more discriminatory. College students IDs aren't accepted by poll workers, but concealed handgun licenses are. Free voting IDs offered by the state require a birth certificate that costs little as $3, but the Justice Department argued that traveling to get those documents imposes an outsize burden on poor minorities.
As a result, attorneys argued, Texas has issued fewer than 300 free voter IDs since the law took effect.
So what do USMB readers think about this ? For voter ID laws or against them ?http://www.cbsnews.com/news/voter-id...by-the-courts/
