“Yesterday, the Department of Justice rightfully rejected a Texas state law that required voters to show photo identification before voting at the polls. The U.S. Department of Justice objected to Sections 9 and 14 of Texas Senate Bill 14 (SB 14) for not meeting its burden under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, and failing to demonstrate that the law will not have a discriminatory effect on minority voters. Sections 9 requires a valid form of photo identification to be presented before casting a ballot. Section 14 goes further to define acceptable forms of identification and SB 14 increases the penalties for any violations of these mandates.
I have been very vocal in my opposition to SB 14 on the grounds of it being discriminatory and unjust. Ultimately, this law would have disenfranchised minority voters, college students, seniors and low income voters. Hispanic voters would have been impacted the most, leaving more than 300,000 Texas Hispanic voters out of the election process.
I will stand with Americans who believe suppression of any voting rights particularly the elderly, minorities and youths are unfair. For that reason, I applaud the Justice Department’s decision to defend voter rights in Texas.”
