Voter integrity group True the Vote has filed a motion intervening in a Department of Justice lawsuit against the voter identification law in Texas.
"The Holder Justice Department has made clear its litigation against Texas will serve as a warning that other states should not pursue election integrity measures - True the Vote stands ready to fight their effort to dilute voters' rights," True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said in statement. "Over 80 percent of Americans favor laws changing to require photo voter identification at the polls. When the DOJ makes baseless claims to obscure the integrity of the voting process, we will not stand idly by. If Texas is to be labeled a political prize by the Plaintiffs and their Interveners, attacking election integrity will not be an acceptable strategy."
In August, Attorney General Eric Holder issued a lawsuit to stop a strongly supported voter identification law in Texas after the Supreme Court struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act, which resulted in southern states being allowed to change election laws without asking DOJ for permission first. After issuing the lawsuit, Holder argued he would not allow a Supreme Court decision to declare "open season" on voting rights.
"The Plaintiff [DOJ] is attempting to obtain a remedy which this Court does nothave the jurisdiction to grant. This Court does not have the authority to impose statewidemandates on Texas to submit all future state, county and local election law changes to thePlaintiff for approval under Section 3 of the Voting Rights Act," the motion states.
Texas Governor Rick Perry has vowed to do whatever it takes to fight DOJ on this issue.
