U.S. Supreme Court Declines Allowing Texas To Resurrect Its Controversial Voter ID Law

AUSTIN, TX — The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to re-hear arguments by state lawmakers that had hoped to resurrect their shuttered Voter ID law passed in 2011 that was found to be in violation of the federal Voting Act.

Without dissent, the high court let stand a July ruling by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that the state's stringent Voter ID law passed in 2011 was in violation of federal safeguards against discrimination outlined in the Voting Rights Act.

Advocates for minority voters had long argued that Texas voting requirements—chiefly its strict requirement for photo identification—were tantamount to discrimination given that minorities were more likely not to possess such identification. The allowance of a gun permit as an alternate form of acceptable ID fueled critics' arguments, given conservatives' fervent adherence to gun rights resonating with their conservative political base.

The Houston Chronicle reported that the high court's decision could prompt state lawmakers to fashion their own Voter ID law as part of the current legislative session now five months in. But the newspaper notes the greater likelihood is that the state will most likely let pending appeals continue in lower courts.

Despite the previous ruling that, in effect, found the state's law to have a discriminatory effect, GOP leaders have sought to appeal the decision. In September, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton petitioned the high court for reinstatement of the the controversial Voter ID law.Paxton telegraphed he'd be petitioning for that reinstatement in August by issuing a news release on his intention to do so.

If state GOP lawmakers had pinned their hopes on the conservatives on the high court, Monday's decision proved disappointing. Chief Justice John Roberts said in a statement that litigation centered on the controversial state law is continuing in the lower courts. While there was "no barrier to our review," Roberts stated, all the pending legal issues can be addressed on appeal in the future.

Yet in a prepared statement on Monday, Paxton suggested Chief Justice Roberts was hinting that the state would be in a stronger position after the lower courts suss out the law and inferred he was buoyed by that interpretation.

“While we are disappointed that the U.S. Supreme Court did not immediately take our case, Chief Justice Roberts made it very clear that the case will be an even stronger posture for Supreme Court review after further proceedings in lower courts," Paxton said. "Texas enacted a common sense voter ID law to safeguard the integrity of our elections, and we will continue to fight for the law in the district court, the Fifth Circuit, and if necessary, the Supreme Court again.”

Paxton and his fellow conservative lawmakers have long insisted their Voter ID law was intended to combat voter fraud rather than marginalize certain voting blocs. But investigations launched to root out voter fraud in Texas have shown such incidents to be virtually non-existent. One study showed it was far likelier to be struck by lightning in Texas than it was to find an example of voter fraud.

A 15-judge panel of the New Orleans appeals court previously ruled the state Voter ID law ran afoul of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, directing a lower court to review plaintiffs' claims that the law was intended to be discriminatory rather than merely having a discriminatory effect, the Chronicle reported. A hearing on that portion of the case had been scheduled Tuesday by a federal judge in Corpus Christi, but was delayed until Feb. 28 after the U.S. Department of Justice late Friday moved to allow more time for the Trump Administration to review whether to continue challenging the state's voting requirements.

The Justice Department under Obama previously demanded the state craft a public relations campaign—in both English and Spanish—that explained the forms of identification now acceptable after its Voter ID law was struck down. The DOJ took this action after finding that Texas was still in non-compliance—and, effectively, misleading Texas voters—despite being ordered to shutter its former law to allow for more voter participation, including the use of alternate forms of ID short of a photographic one in order to cast a ballot.

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