Voter fraud vs. voting rights — an historic battle
Judges skeptical of Texas’s arguments on voter ID law
By Sari Horwitz, WashPost, Published: July 13
On Friday morning, Judge Robert L. Wilkins looked out across the packed courtroom at the lawyer for Texas and suggested that the state’s voter ID law would force some people to travel more than 100 miles to get the documents required for a photo identification.
“How does that impact your argument?” asked Wilkins. “Isn’t that unduly burdensome?”
John Hughes, the state’s attorney, said Texans in rural areas are used to driving long distances. “People who want to vote already have an ID or can easily get it,” he said.
The exchange highlighted the key dispute in a historic case that played out in final arguments Friday before a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in Washington. The issue is whether the 2011 law violates the federal Voting Rights Act by making it harder for minorities to cast ballots.
The stakes go far beyond Texas. For the Obama administration, the Texas law and similar legislation passed in other states threaten to disenfranchise millions of Latino and African American voters. But for supporters of the legislation, the requirements are common-sense solutions to voter fraud.
(More here.)
On Friday morning, Judge Robert L. Wilkins looked out across the packed courtroom at the lawyer for Texas and suggested that the state’s voter ID law would force some people to travel more than 100 miles to get the documents required for a photo identification.
“How does that impact your argument?” asked Wilkins. “Isn’t that unduly burdensome?”
John Hughes, the state’s attorney, said Texans in rural areas are used to driving long distances. “People who want to vote already have an ID or can easily get it,” he said.
The exchange highlighted the key dispute in a historic case that played out in final arguments Friday before a three-judge panel in U.S. District Court in Washington. The issue is whether the 2011 law violates the federal Voting Rights Act by making it harder for minorities to cast ballots.
The stakes go far beyond Texas. For the Obama administration, the Texas law and similar legislation passed in other states threaten to disenfranchise millions of Latino and African American voters. But for supporters of the legislation, the requirements are common-sense solutions to voter fraud.
(More here.)
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