Texas ID Ruled Discriminatory One More Time

The strict voter ID law enacted in Texas has been ruled discriminatory, violating the Voting Rights Act, by a federal appeals court. The court did not strike down the law but instructed the lower court to essentially fix it by minimizing the effect on minority voters who do not currently have a valid ID. This will probably mean allowing other forms of ID to be valid but will probably not stop a number of voter precincts from “enforcing” the law incorrectly come November. The ruling marks the fourth time in four years that the Texas voter ID law has been rule discriminatory. A statistic like that might make you wonder why the Supreme Court ruled against federal oversight of changes in electoral law under the Voting Rights Act for certain jurisdictions like Texas. The proliferation of voting rights restrictions that have been introduced and passed since that ruling in not only the states previously monitored but also in numerous others has been extraordinary. But I kind of doubt that Roberts and other justices who voted to strip those protections away have any second thoughts. It will be up to Democrats to fight this battle in the individual states and perhaps in Congress if and when they ever win the House.