A strict voter ID law in Texas does indeed discriminate against Blacks and Latinos, a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday, saying the law violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act.
The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, based in New Orleans, partially upheld a 2014 district court ruling, agreeing that the Texas law made it harder for Blacks and Latinos to vote, but rejected the lower court’s finding that the law amounted to an unconstitutional poll tax.
In 2014, a lower court found that more than 600,000 voters in Texas, disproportionately minorities, did not have the required government-issued form of photo identification required to vote under the Texas law which also accepts handgun licenses as ID but not student IDs.
