Voter ID Laws in Two States Made Toothless in Upcoming Election
As the Supreme Court kept Wisconsin from enforcing a voter ID law in the upcoming election that may discriminate against minorities, a federal judge threw out a similar law in Texas.
The Supreme Court granted its relief in a one-page order Thursday night that notes a dissent by the court’s conservative justices.
A federal judge had previously enjoined the law for constitutional and Voting Rights Act violations, but the 7th Circuit threw out that relief on Sept. 12 because it said Wisconsin had changed its requirements to ensure better compliance.
The Supreme Court vacated that Sept. 12 order and it vacated the 7th Circuit’s stay of the District Court’s permanent injunction.
In a strong dissent to the 7th Circuit’s refusal to rehear the case en banc last week, Judge Ann Claire Williams noted that the law would disenfranchise 300,000 voters in November.
The upcoming election did not sway all of the Supreme Court’s justices, however, on the urgency for intervention.
More: Courthouse News Service