Justice

Why Voter ID Is Racial Discrimination, for the Record

Republican supporters of voter ID laws have been more than candid about how they help their political chances.

July 21, 2016 at 3:04 PM EDT

A panel of 15 judges for the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled 9-6 Wednesday that a photo voter-ID law passed by Texas almost five years ago discriminates against people of color. The Texas law, SB 14, would allow the use of drivers licenses and gun licenses to vote, but not college IDs. Experts testified in the years-long court battle over the law that it would potentially disenfranchise upwards of 600,000 eligible voters.

Most of the disenfranchised would be Latino and African-American voters who are unable to get the ID cards required to vote due to poverty, lack of transportation, and the state’s overall history of racism at the polls. This is why a district court ruled last year that the voter ID law violated the federal Voting Rights Act, as it did in 2012. Those cases were appealed, but Wednesday’s ruling from the Fifth Circuit appeals court mostly upholds those findings.