Justice Department Sues Texas: Voter ID Law Discriminates Against Minorities
The Justice Department said Thursday that it will sue Texas over the state's new voter ID law which some believes discriminates against minorities.
Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday that the Justice Department would pursue legal action against Texas in a "continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all eligible Americans." The Federal government alleges that Texas knowingly passed strict voting regulations that required a specific type of ID in an effort to curb the amount of minority voters.
The suit filed by Justice says the state "knew or should have known that Hispanic and African-American Texans disproportionately lack the forms of photo ID required" by the law.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry argues the law is an attempt to prevent voter fraud and "preserve the integrity of our elections."
"The filing of endless litigation in an effort to obstruct the will of the people of Texas is what we have come to expect from Attorney General Eric Holder and President Obama," Perry said in a statement according to Fox News.
The State department continues to defend its position, and has promised further action against other states that attempt to interfere with voter's rights.
"We will not allow the Supreme Court's recent decision to be interpreted as open season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights," Holder said in a statement. "We will keep fighting aggressively to prevent voter disenfranchisement. . . . This represents the department's latest action to protect voting rights, but it will not be our last."
Texas has also opposed more recent efforts to turn the state "blue" in time for the coming election. Sen. John Cornyn (R), a member of the Judiciary Committee and a former Texas attorney general, regarded the Justice Department as an unwelcome interference.
"Facts mean little to a politicized Justice Department bent on inserting itself into the sovereign affairs of Texas and a lame-duck Administration trying to turn our state blue," Cornyn said in a statement according to the Washington Post. "As Texans we reject the notion that the federal government knows what's best for us."
