5th Circuit allows Texas to use procedures in revised voter ID law for 2017 elections
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The New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is allowing Texas to use voter ID procedures for 2017 elections that were adopted in a revised voter ID law.
In a 2-1 decision, the appeals court stayed an injunction that had blocked the procedures adopted in the law known as Senate Bill 5, report Politico, Reuters and the Austin American-Statesman.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos of Corpus Christi had found Senate Bill 5 discriminated against minorities in violation of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution.
Senate Bill 5 allows people without one of seven specified forms of photo identification to sign an affidavit and show an alternate ID with their address, such as a utility bill or bank statement. The affidavit, which is signed under penalty of perjury, states that the voter faces a reasonable impediment to obtaining the qualifying ID.
Ramos had enjoined Senate Bill 5 and the law it replaced, which did not have the reasonable-impediment procedure.
The 5th Circuit majority said Texas had made a strong showing it would succeed on the merits in its defense of Senate Bill 5. Its stay is temporary pending an appeal.
