On Monday, a federal district court delivered a big win for voting rights when it ruled that the strict voter ID law that Texas Republicans passed in 2011 intentionally discriminated against black and Latino voters. If Monday’s ruling survives appeal, it could serve as grounds for throwing out the law entirely.
This case could have a further, far-reaching impact as well. Combined with a separate recent decision that struck down the Texas GOP’s congressional gerrymander—which was also found to be intentionally discriminatory—Monday’s ruling could also open the way for the courts to require Texas to once again “preclear” all changes to its voting laws with the Justice Department.
Several predominantly Southern states like Texas with a history of discriminatory election laws had required Justice Department preclearance until the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act in 2013. Suddenly free of Justice Department oversight, these states subsequently rushed to pass a slew of voting restrictions.
However, under separate section of the VRA that is is still in force, judicial findings of intentional discrimination can lead to a jurisidiction getting placed back under preclearance. Indeed, a court recently ordered just that for the Texas city of Pasadena, which had a history of discrimination against Latinos. While Attorney General Jeff Sessions is a staunch voting rights opponent who is unlikely to block harmful voting laws, a future Democratic administration could do so.
We have a ways to go, though, because this ruling faces tough odds on appeal. The case will be heard by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is notoriously conservative and might not invalidate Texas’ voter ID law, despite the lower court’s finding of intentional discrimination. Furthermore, now that arch-conservative Neil Gorsuch has been confirmed to the Supreme Court, conservatives justices, who are generally hostile to voting rights, once again hold a 5 to 4 majority and could rule in favor of Texas Republicans.
However, given Justice Anthony Kennedy’s rulings in several recent cases striking down GOP racial gerrymandering, there’s still hope that he might finally see the light on the harms of voter ID and join the court’s liberals in banishing this law once and for all.