Texas softens strict voter ID law to comply with federal court ruling

In July, the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Texas' strict voter ID law has a "discriminatory effect" that violates the U.S. Voting Rights Act, potentially disenfranchising more than 600,000 registered voters, most of them poor or minorities. On Wednesday, Texas announced a compromise worked out with the U.S. Justice Department and minority rights groups that had filed suit over the 2011 law.

Under the agreement, which requires approval from U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, registered voters without one of the seven sanctioned forms of photo ID will be allowed to vote in November after signing an affidavit affirming that they are U.S. citizens and producing an alternate form of proof of ID, such as a paycheck or utility bill. Texas will also have to spend $2.5 million to publicize the new rules. The state has already spent $3.5 million defending the 2011 voter ID law.

Chad Dunn, a Houston lawyer working for the minorities rights groups, called the compromise "a critical leap forward," while a spokesman for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton said "this case isn't over." Texas will revisit the law after November, possibly taking its case all the way to the Supreme Court, Paxton signaled. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, among the most conservative appellate courts, also ordered the lower court to consider whether Texas intended to discriminate against minorities, a steeper finding that could put Texas back on a list of states that need prior federal approval to change electoral laws.

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