Voting Rights Roundup: Court rules Texas GOP intentionally discriminated by race with voter ID law

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● Texas: On Monday, a federal district court delivered a big win for voting rights when it ruled that the strict voter ID law that Texas Republicans passed in 2011 intentionally discriminated against black and Latino voters. If Monday’s ruling survives appeal, it could serve as grounds for throwing out the law entirely.

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​This case could have a further, far-reaching impact as well. Combined with a separate recent decision that struck down the Texas GOP’s congressional gerrymander—which was also found to be intentionally discriminatory—Monday’s ruling could open the way for the courts to require Texas to once again “preclear” all changes to its voting laws with the Department of Justice.

Until the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, several predominantly Southern states like Texas with a history of discriminatory election laws had required advance approval from the Justice Department before making any alterations to their voting procedures. If any changes were found to disadvantage minority voters, the federal government could block them from taking effect.  But as soon as they were free of such oversight, these same states rushed to pass a slew of voting restrictions.

However, under a separate section of the VRA that is is still in force, judicial findings of intentional discrimination can lead to a jurisdiction getting placed back under preclearance. Indeed, a court recently ordered just this remedy for the Texas city of Pasadena, which had a history of discrimination against Latinos. While Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a staunch voting rights opponent who is unlikely to block harmful voting laws, a future Democratic administration could do so.

from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2oI3VW4