The state of Texas is once again threatening to appeal recent decisions made against their voter ID laws which three courts have already found to be discriminatory. It was reported that rulings were made over the state's redistricting, their effort to get rid of assistance for non-English speaking voters and over their voter ID requirements, with the courts saying that they were discriminatory. The recent ruling on the Texas Voter Id Law was the eighth time that a court had ruled against it.

Texas' violations of the Voting Rights Act

In 2013, the U.S.

Supreme Court struck down a part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that required federal approval for Southern states that wanted to make changes to their voting laws. It was initially informed for those states were known to discriminate against minorities in the past. After it was struck down, many of those states wasted no time in discriminating against minority voters.

However, despite the changes by the Supreme Court, those states that still continued to show discrimination would have to get federal approval once again. Such is the case for Texas which would also fall under those requirements under the Voting Rights Act for also discriminating with the creation of their redistricting map. Both voter ID and redistricting maps were restricted under the Voting Rights Act.

Texas's Republican government tried to pull a 'fast one'

After the courts ruled that the voter ID law was discriminatory, Texas amended their law that would allow those who did not have a photo ID to sign an affidavit or provide non-photo ID documentation. But Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos said last Wednesday that even the altered version of the law still discriminated.

This was because the kinds of non-photo ID requirements were for documentation that minorities might not have such as gun permit licenses. The amended law that was passed in July still did not accept government or student IDs. Judge Nelva had already dealt with a similar issue in April.

Creative ways for Texas to violate voter's rights

Ramos also pointed to the threat of jail time for those who signed an affidavit but had legitimate identification, which she said discouraged people from voting. But she pointed out that the state made no effort to educate Texans about their changes to the voting law. Redistricting discourages voters in many districts from being able to vote nearby if they know they have to travel. But Texas contributed to the confusion caused by many states that prevented many Democratic voters from going to the polls.

This is because, as Republicans have taken more control of state governments, they have a more vested interest in preventing Democratic candidates and their constituents from gaining ground.

Trump was accused by Democrats of voter intimidation last year and was reportedly sued by four different states after election day. Now, should this issue end up in the Supreme Court, many people are concerned that they could make matters worse, given that it was the Supreme Court that struck down a vital part of the voting rights act, creating these violations.
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