This week, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit ruled that Senate Bill 14, a Texas law requiring photographic identification for voting in person, is discriminatory and violates Section 2 of the U.S. Voting Rights Act. The law, one of the strictest in the country, requires voters to present a government-issued photo ID in order to vote. The New York Times said it was “the fourth time in nearly four years that a federal court found the law to be discriminatory against or disproportionately affected black and Hispanic voters.” Critics of the law claim minority voters often face hardships in obtaining one of the seven acceptable forms of photo ID required by the law:
- Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS)
- Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS
- Texas personal identification card issued by DPS
- Texas license to carry a handgun issued by DPS
- United States military identification card containing the person’s photograph
- United States citizenship certificate containing the person’s photograph
- United States passport
In 2014, a lower court found that about 608,000 registered voters in Texas would face hardship when trying to vote under the law, according to testimony and data presented by experts; Texas’ lawyers dispute the number.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R) said the law was necessary in order to prevent voter fraud, and continued to defend the law, as he has done since serving as the state’s attorney general. He promised that “Texas will continue to make sure there is no illegal voting at the ballot box,” but did not lay out how the state would do so. The current Texas AG, Ken Paxton, called it a common-sense law that provides “protections against fraud,” which he said is “essential to accurately reflecting the will of Texas voters during elections.”
As a result of the appeals decision, the case will go back to the district court in order to examine claims by the plaintiffs that the law had a discriminatory purpose against minority voters, and tasked the lower court with finding a solution that causes as little disruption as possible. One possible solution, suggested by the Fifth Court of Appeals, is to have voters present a Voter Registration Card, issued by the Texas Secretary of State, as sufficient identification. In order to receive that card, a voter has to provide: 1) a Texas driver’s license number, or 2) a personal ID card number (a photo ID that is also issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety but does not grant driving privileges); or 3) the last four digits of a social security number; or 4) a statement that the voter does not have a social security number.
As a different part of the appeals process, the Supreme Court told the Fifth circuit it had until July 20 to rule on SB 14, in order to ensure no disruption to the November 2016 presidential election process. As a result, the State of Texas will likely appeal this decision, but photo ID will not be required of voters this November.