On Wednesday, a federal appeals court in New Orleans struck down Texas' strict voter ID law, saying it discriminated against Hispanic and black voters and was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
The Texas law, passed in 2011, requires voters to bring a government-issued photo ID to the polls, with acceptable forms of ID including a driver's license, U.S. passport, and a concealed-handgun license. University ID cards and copies of bills are not considered valid. A lower court ruled in 2014 that the law was discriminatory, but the state was allowed to keep it in place because the midterm elections were about to be held. Now, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals is sending the law to the lower court in Corpus Christi, which will decide if was enacted with discriminatory intent.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'Election Day. Finally.'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
Incendiary device plot: Russia's 'rehearsals' for attacks on transatlantic flightsThe Explainer Security officials warn of widespread Moscow-backed 'sabotage campaign' in retaliation for continued Western support for Ukraine
-
Outer Hebrides: a top travel destinationThe Week Recommends Discover 'unspoiled beauty' of the Western Isles
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation courtSpeed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
-
Anders Breivik to testify in prison isolation lawsuit against NorwaySpeed Read Far-right fanatic who killed 77 people in 2011 claims he has received 'inhuman treatment' in custody
