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Breaking and Analysis: Divided 5th Circuit Holds Texas Voter ID Law Violates Voting Rights Act


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?p=84442Election Law Blog : Breaking and Analysis: Divided 5th Circuit Holds Texas Voter ID Law Violates Voting Rights Act

Posted on

 

July 20, 2016 12:03 pm

by Rick Hasen

In 203 pages of opinions, the 5th Circuit, sitting en banc, issued an opinion holding that Texas’s voter identification law, one of the strictest in the country, violates section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

 

Here is my first take, with more to come later.

 

The bottom line is that the majority of the 5th Circuit has done what the panel opinion had originally held: there is a remand on the question whether Texas acted with a discriminatory purpose, but there is enough evidence of a discriminatory effect so as to render the Texas id law a Voting Rights Act violation.

 

BUT, and this is a big but, the remedy is NOT going to be to strike the Texas voter id law as a whole, but instead to fashion some kind of relief that give people who have a reasonable impediment to getting an id the chance to get one. This might be like the affidavit requirement just approved yesterday in the Wisconsin case, or something else (like an indigency exception affidavit). Scissors-32x32.png


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Texas voter photo ID law sharply narrowed

Meeting a Supreme Court deadline to act, a federal appeals court on Wednesday undercut most of Texas’ five-year-old law requiring photo IDs to vote, calling it the “strictest in the nation.” In addition, the same court raised at least the prospect that the state of Texas could lose its right to pass new election laws without federal supervision, after this fall’s election.

 

The 203-page decision, a widely splintered result from the en banc U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, came out on the very day that the Supreme Court in April had set as the point for the lower court to make up its mind, or face the prospect of having the Texas law put on hold by the Justices.

 

In the wake of the ruling by the 15 judges of the Fifth Circuit, announced in eight separate opinions, the case of Veasey v. Abbott is now due to return to U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi, who originally struck down the photo ID law in October 2014, finding that it discriminated against the poor, and against black and Latino voters.

 

Under Wednesday’s ruling by the Fifth Circuit Court, the trial judge is now under two specific orders:Scissors-32x32.png

http://lyldenlawnews.com/2016/07/21/texas-voter-photo-id-nullified/

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Why a Loss on NC Voter ID Would Look Like a Win in Texas

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July 21, 2016 4:46 pm

by Rick Hasen

Just a short note to point out how the goalposts have moved.

 

Plaintiffs in the Texas voter id case yesterday were claiming victory after the Fifth Circuit en banc held that Texas’s strict voter id law violated Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. But the remedy the court approved was not striking the law as a whole; instead the trial court is to come up with some means of softening the law, such as allowing those who face a reasonable impediment to voting to be able to cast a ballot by signing an affidavit so attesting.

 

Now flip to NC, where the state in the face of litigation against its omnibus make-voting-harder law followed South Carolina’s model in creating a “reasonable impediment” softening to the strictness of its voter id law. SC adopted that to get Section 5 preclearance from a court when that still existed. NC is trying to avoid section 2 liability, and the trial court believed that the voter id law with the reasonable impediment workaround eliminated any discriminatory effects of the law. That’s now up on appeal before the 4th Circuit. Scissors-32x32.png

https://electionlawblog.org/?p=84492

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JURISPRUDENCE

THE LAW, LAWYERS, AND THE COURT.

JULY 21 2016 9:28 AM

The Voting Rights Act Might Get Some Teeth Back

 

Thanks to an appeals ruling, Texas’ discriminatory voting laws could end up under federal oversight.

By Richard L. Hasen

 

This week’s decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5thCircuit—holding that Texas’ strict voter identification law violates the Voting Rights Act—is good news for those who believe such laws are discriminatory and do nothing to prevent voter fraud. But there is potentially much better news buried within the eight separate opinions of the 203-page ruling, which comes from one of the most conservative courts in the nation. There you’ll find a road map for returning Texas’ voting rules to the supervision of the federal government. That’s something that states like Texas—which has passed laws that handicap a portion of its voting-age population—have proved they still need.

 

Let’s start with the most straightforward part of the 5thCircuit decision. Texas passed one of the strictest voter identification laws in the nation in 2011—a law notorious, for example, for allowing citizens to show a concealed weapons permit but not student identification in order to vote. Scissors-32x32.pnghttp://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/jurisprudence/2016/07/the_5th_circuit_left_an_opening_for_texas_to_lose_control_of_its_discriminatory.html?wpsrc=sh_all_mob_tw_top

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Courts Weaken Texas Voter ID Law, Uphold Wisconsin’s Law

Posted by Mary Chastain Wednesday, August 10, 2016 at 8:30pm

 

Texas compromised, but the DOJ believes the courts will reverse Wisconsin’s decision.

 

A federal judge has weakened the Texas voter ID law while the U.S. Court of Appeals suspended a ruling that eliminated parts of Wisconsin’s law.

 

Activists have gone after voter laws recently as the presidential election nears. They insist the poor and minority voters somehow cannot obtain an ID.

 

A judge scrapped the Texas law in July and forced them to go back to the table “to revamp its voter identification rules, finding that they disenfranchised minority voters.” They eventually agreed on this deal:

 

Under the deal, a voter whose name appears on the voting roll but who lacks the appropriate ID could cast a ballot after showing an item such as a valid voter registration card or a government document with the voter’s name and address.

 

The person would have to sign a declaration swearing that he or she has had a reasonable difficulty that prevented obtaining one of the accepted forms of photo identification.Scissors-32x32.png

http://legalinsurrection.com/2016/08/judge-weakens-texas-voter-id-law-another-upholds-wisconsins-law/

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North Carolina asks the Justices to step in on voter ID law (UPDATED)

By Amy Howe on Aug 16, 2016 at 11:31 am

UPDATE: Today Chief Justice John Roberts instructed the challengers in the case to respond to the state’s application to stay the lower court’s ruling. The response is due on Thursday, August 25, at 4 p.m. Eastern.

Arguing that not only its own voter identification law but virtually all others could be endangered if a lower-court decision is permitted to stand, yesterday North Carolina asked the Supreme Court to temporarily block part of that ruling. Now represented by former U.S. Solicitor General Paul Clement, the state filed an emergency appeal seeking to apply several provisions of its 2013 election law to the November 2016 elections. It argued that the state should be allowed to use the same voting rules that it used in the March 2016 primary elections, which had what the state described as “exceptionally high” voter turnout. By contrast, it told the Justices, making “eleventh-hour alterations” to those rules would “put state and local election officials in an exceedingly difficult position” and could create “voter confusion and consequent incentive to remain away from the polls. Scissors-32x32.png

http://www.scotusblog.com/2016/08/north-carolina-asks-the-justices-to-step-in-on-voter-id-law/

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Texas to appeal voter ID ruling to Supreme Court

By Reid Wilson - 08/16/16 04:08 PM EDT

Texas will ask the U.S. Supreme Court to keep the state’s controversial voter identification law in place, three weeks after an appeals court found that the law violated the Voting Rights Act.

 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office said on Tuesday that it would appeal the July 20 ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals.

“To protect the integrity of voting in the state of Texas, our office will appeal the Voter ID ruling of the Fifth Circuit to the United States Supreme Court,” Paxton’s communications director, Marc Rylander, said in a statement.

 

The appeals court ruling that put Texas’s voter identification law on ice directed the state and voting-rights advocates who challenged the law to come up with a compromise. A U.S. District Court judge approved an agreement last week that would allow voters without identifications to cast ballots if they signed a declaration of citizenship and provided proof that they lived in Texas. Scissors-32x32.pnghttps://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwikn8axycjOAhVLOyYKHbPbAZ8QqQIIHzAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthehill.com%2Fhomenews%2Fnews%2F291632-texas-to-appeal-voter-id-ruling-to-supreme-court&usg=AFQjCNELuBizt7GJweeJ9gTsBn3HcjNpcw

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Federal judge denies Ken Paxton's request to delay hearing on voter ID law By Hannah Wise

Published: 25 August 2016 09:19 PM

Updated: 25 August 2016 10:48 PM

 

A federal judge has rejected Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton's request to delay setting a date for a hearing on whether the state's voter ID law was enacted with the intent to discriminate.

 

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi said Thursday that she will hold a hearing in January. Paxton had requested that a date be set no earlier than August 2017 to give the Legislature time to make changes to the state's law.

 

Lawyers for the civil rights groups that sued to overturn the ID law opposed the proposed delay, the Austin American-Statesman reports. They argued that it would allow "any number of local elections" to be held under a law intended to discriminate against minority voters, who are often less likely to have approved forms of identification. Scissors-32x32.png

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/headlines/20160825-federal-judge-denies-ken-paxton-s-request-to-delay-hearing-on-voter-id-law.ece

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Texas heading back to court over voter ID law

 

By Chuck Lindell - American-Statesman Staff Posted: 8:02 a.m. Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2016

 

Texas officials will be back in federal court next week to defend the state’s voter ID law, this time against accusations that they have failed to comply with judge-ordered changes for the November election.

 

Monday’s hearing comes at the request of the U.S. Department of Justice, which filed a complaint last week arguing that Texas was misleading voters and poll workers about acceptable voting procedures and who will be eligible to cast a ballot on Nov. 8.

 

Obama administration lawyers say Texas is violating U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos’ Aug. 10 order requiring state officials accept a wider array of identification — and spend at least $2.5 million informing voters of the changes — after a federal appeals court ruled that the Republican-favored voter ID law, enacted in 2011, discriminated against minority voters. Scissors-32x32.png

Monday’s hearing, set to begin at 5 p.m. in Ramos’ Corpus Christi courtroom Scissors-32x32.png

http://www.mystatesman.com/news/news/texas-heading-back-to-court-over-voter-id-law/nsXPG/

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Texas Appeals Voter ID Rulings to U.S. Supreme Court

by Jim Malewitz Sept. 23, 2016

 

Texas wants to take its voter identification battle to the U.S. Supreme Court.

 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Friday asked the justices to hear his arguments about why the state’s photo ID requirements for voting do not discriminate against Hispanics and African-American voters.

 

“Safeguarding the integrity of our elections is essential to preserving our democracy,” the Republican said in a statement. “Voter ID laws both prevent fraud and increase the public’s confidence in our elections. Texas enacted a common-sense voter ID law and I am confident that the U.S. Supreme Court will ultimately reinstate it.”

 

Texas officials say the voter ID law prevents voter fraud, which Gov. Greg Abbott has called "rampant." But opponents — backed by court rulings — have pointed out that in-person voter fraud is incredibly rare.

 

Friday's filing is Paxton’s last-ditch attempt to salvage the requirements after a string of defeats in court. Scissors-32x32.png

 

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/09/23/texas-appeals-voter-id-rulings-us-supreme-court/

 

 

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In latest voter ID filing, feds argue Texas discriminated on purpose

The Obama administration is arguing that Texas lawmakers intentionally discriminated when they passed a strict voter ID law in 2011. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton refuted the arguments in his own filing.

by Jim Malewitz Nov. 19, 2016

 

KarnesCity_BD8855_jpg_800x1000_q100.jpg

 

A copy of the new voter ID regulations is posted at a south Texas early voting location on October 26, 2016. Bob Daemmrich

Months after a federal appeals court ruled that Texas lawmakers discriminated against African-American and Latino voters in passing a strict voter identification law, the Obama administration and civil rights groups are asking a judge to go a step further — by finding that the lawmakers did it on purpose.

“The discriminatory impact was not merely an unintended consequence” of the 2011 law, known as Senate Bill 14, Justice Department lawyers wrote in a brief filed late Friday. “It was, in part, SB 14’s purpose.” Scissors-32x32.png

 

 

https://www.texastribune.org/2016/11/19/latest-voter-id-filing-feds-argue-texas-discrimina/

 

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U.S. News

AP Exclusive: Hundreds of Texans may have voted improperly

By DAVID SALEH RAUF Today

 

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas election officials have acknowledged that hundreds of people were allowed to bypass the state's toughest-in-the-nation voter ID law and improperly cast ballots in the November presidential election by signing a sworn statement instead of showing a photo ID.

 

The chief election officers in two of the state's largest counties are now considering whether to refer cases to local prosecutors for potential perjury charges or violations of election law. Officials in many other areas say they will simply let the mistakes go, citing widespread confusion among poll workers and voters.

 

The Texas law requires voters to show one of seven approved forms of identification to cast ballots. It was softened in August to allow people without a driver's license or other photo ID to sign an affidavit declaring that they have an impediment to obtaining required identification.

Even after the affidavits were introduced, voters who possess an acceptable photo ID were still required to show it at the polls. Scissors-32x32.png

https://apnews.com/b7b57fc61c5b462d871a942864c0afad/AP-Exclusive:-Hundreds-of-Texans-may-have-voted-improperly

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Texas intentionally discriminated with 2011 voter ID law, judge rules (again)

A federal judge has ruled — for the second time — that Texas lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Latino and black voters in passing a strict voter identification law in 2011.

BY JIM MALEWITZ APRIL 10, 2017 5:20 PM

 

A federal judge has ruled — for the second time — that Texas lawmakers intentionally discriminated against Latino and black voters in passing a strict voter identification law in 2011.

 

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled Monday that Texas “has not met its burden” in proving that lawmakers passed the nation’s strictest photo ID law, know as Senate Bill 14, without knowingly targeting minority voters.

 

The 10-page ruling, if it withstands almost certain appeals, could ultimately put Texas back on the list of states needing outside approval before changing election laws. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling sprung Texas and other states with a history of discrimination from that list. Scissors-32x32.pnghttps://www.texastribune.org/2017/04/10/texas-intentionally-discriminated-2011-voter-id-law-judge-rules-again/

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Judge Rules That Texas Is Racist

Posted on April 11, 2017 by Deplorable Myiq2xu™

 

Obama appointed her, so she must be a wise Latina:

 

Federal Judge Rejects Texas Voter ID Law for the Second Time

 

A federal judge has again rejected the 2011 Texas voter ID law, stating that the legislators meant to discriminate against minority voters.

 

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos made this same ruling in 2014, which forced an appeal. The Fifth Circuit issued a stay against the order. The Supreme Court stepped in and allowed Texas to use the voter ID law.

 

But last July the Fifth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans asked the judge “to re-examine the decision” since the judges found that “some of the evidence used by the judge wasn’t relevant.” The two sides reached a deal for the 2016 election, which allowed a voter to “sign a declaration swearing that he or she has had a reasonable difficulty that prevented obtaining one of the accepted forms of photo identification.”

 

Ramos went back to the drawing board but came to the same conclusion. The Texas Tribune reported: Scissors-32x32.png

 

https://crayfisher.wordpress.com/2017/04/11/judge-rules-that-texas-is-racist/

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