Judge Rules Texas Voter ID Law Is Discriminatory

More good news for the resistance ... US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos has ruled that a Texas law requiring voters to show identification before casting ballots was enacted by the state’s Republican Party with the intent to discriminate against black and Hispanic voters.

You.Don’t.Say.

The decision by Judge Ramos came after an appeals court ruled that the 2011 Voter ID law had an outsized impact on minority voters, and that court sent the case back to Ramos to determine if lawmakers had intentionally written the legislation to be discriminatory.

And Ramos decided that they did; in a 10-page decision she found that evidence "establishes that a discriminatory purpose was at least one of the substantial or motivating factors behind passage" of the measure.

What the what? The GOP tried to discriminate against minority voters? This is so schock—no it’s not, it’s the GOP.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Jr. and Governor Greg Abbott, both Republicans ... because, of course ... could not be reached for comment. Paxton did say, last year, that enacting voter ID laws was a “common sense” way to prevent voter fraud.

I think maybe he meant it was a common sense way to keep black and Hispanic voters from casting a ballot.

This latest smackdown of the Texas GOP comes a month after two federal judges ruled that Texas lawmakers drew up three congressional districts specifically to undermine the influence of Hispanic voters.

Voter ID laws make it especially difficult for the elderly and lower income Americans, including minorities, to vote because they are less likely to have identification; and the GOP loves a good voter ID law because, typically, those groups tend to vote Blue.

Ramos’ ruling means Texas could be put on a so-called pre-clearance scheme of the Voting Rights Act and, in order to make any changes to its voting protocols, the state would have to clear them with the federal government.

Snap. It’s another victory for the Resistance.

Reuters