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Texas Attorney General Files Lawsuit to Implement state Voter ID Law
By Gheni_Platenburg in Demographics & Dockets
February 2, 2012

The state of Texas is one step closer to implementing a voter identification law.

Last week,Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Dept. of Justice seeking a federal court’s approval to implement the Texas voter identification law. His decision comes in the midst of discussions about redistricting and tentatively rescheduled primary elections.

According to Hispanically Speaking News, the DOJ has been reviewing the voter ID law for the past few months to ensure that it does not bring a disadvantage to any minority voters.

Abbott released a statement saying, “The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that voter identification laws are constitutional. Texas should be allowed the same authority other states have to protect the integrity of elections. To fast-track that authority, Texas is taking legal action in a D.C. Court seeking approval of its voter identification law.”

States like Texas with a documented history of voter discrimination have to get a “preclearance” from the DOJ before voter ID laws can be implemented.

The lawsuit states, “Even if DOJ contends that (the Texas law) has the unintended effect of ‘denying’ or ‘abridging’ the voting rights of those who do not possess a government-issued photo identification, it does not do so on account of their race or color - it does so on account of their decision not to obtain the identification that the state offers free of charge.”

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