Feds might oversee Texas elections again

Texas must relax its strict voter ID law for the Nov. 8 presidential election, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday.

That’s a significant win for voting-rights advocates, mostly Democrats.

The voter ID law generated a storm of controversy well before it was passed by the Legislature in 2011 and has been declared a violation of the Voting Rights Act in at least three other federal court rulings since.

And what’s most remarkable about Wednesday’s ruling is that the state got off light. So far.

It’s still possible — even likely, given details deep in the 5th Circuit’s ruling — that after the November election Texas will be ordered once again to seek Justice Department approval for any future changes in election laws or procedures.

Texas was required to meet that federal “preclearance” requirement from 1975 until the Supreme Court lifted it three years ago.

For now, the appeals court has ordered the voter ID case back to a federal District Court in Corpus Christi for changes “respecting the Legislature’s stated objective to safeguard the integrity of elections by requiring more secure forms of voter identification.”

Plaintiffs, including U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey of Fort Worth, were told to help devise the changes. So were lawyers for the state.

Forms of voter ID acceptable under the 2011 law will still be acceptable at the polls on Nov. 8. But more than a half-million potential voters don’t have acceptable IDs, so there will be new provisions to allow them to vote.

One possibility mentioned in the appeals court ruling is an exemption for all indigent voters who do not have an acceptable ID.

The changes are to happen “as soon as possible,” but at least in time to educate voters well before early voting starts Oct. 24.

That order comes under the 5th Circuit’s finding that the strict voter ID law has had a “discriminatory effect” against minorities.

After the election, the District Court is supposed to look again at whether the Legislature passed the voter ID law with a “discriminatory purpose” intentionally targeting minorities. That could trigger renewed Justice Department oversight.

The 5th Circuit rejected the District Court’s initial finding of a discriminatory purpose as being based on faulty reasoning. But then the appeals court judges took the extraordinary step of pointing out parts of the trial court testimony and evidence that would support finding a discriminatory purpose in the case.

All the District Court has to do is follow the appeals court’s playbook to put Texas voting back under federal supervision.

This story was originally published July 21, 2016 at 6:13 PM with the headline "Feds might oversee Texas elections again."