Texas joins some 17 states on the list of federal monitoring from the Justice Department for previous violations of voting rights. Now, each new proposal, such as the controversial Texas voter ID law has to be approved by the Justice Department too. Texas latest attempt to change election procedures brought on scrutiny as many argued it was a way to discriminate against Hispanic voters. The Administration ended the Texas Voter ID law for now, but both Texas and South Carolina have filed suits with the federal court.
Whether or not it has something to do with the fact that the acting Texas Governor is the former Republican candidate for the nomination to presidential elections, the Justice Department reacted promptly in putting an end to the Texas Voter ID law. Rick Perry wasn’t happy with the decision and blamed the whole thing on Obama’s poor skills as leader: “Their denial is yet another example of the Obama administration’s continuing and pervasive federal overreach”.
The Texas voter ID law is, to say the least, controversial. Basically, when a voter would go to place its vote, he or she would have to show photo ID issued by the government. Advocacy groups immediately took action to get the authorities involved as they argued the law proposal was a direct way to the discrimination of Hispanics.
The Justice Department concurred and voted against the proposal under the Voting Rights Act. The Department explained in a letter that they fear Texas legislation proposal may harm Hispanic voters. As official data shows, Hispanics have a 46.5 percent to 120 percent to have no identification. This means that Texas falls under the incidence of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.
Greg Abbott, Texas Attorney General appeared on a Fox News show recently after the Justice Department published its standing on the Voter ID law. He argued that the decision was based purely on political reasons. He said: “This is part of Obama’s ongoing war against the state of Texas. Listen, voter ID and having to present a voter ID when you go to vote is something that almost everyone agrees upon”.
