The Justice Department said Thursday that it will file a new lawsuit against Texas to try to block the state's voter ID law.Supreme Court be damned. The issuing of the lawsuit is bold considering the Supreme Court just struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act, resulting in states like Texas being able to make voting decisions at a local level.
“Today’s action marks another step forward in the Justice Department’s continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all eligible Americans,” Attorney General Eric Holder said in a statement accompanying the announcement of the lawsuit.
"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."
The court's 5-4 ruling in the case from Alabama frees states and municipalities with a history of racial discrimination from having to clear changes in voting procedures with the federal government. That restriction has applied to nine states and parts of six others, mostly in the South.
Three weeks ago, voter integrity group True the Vote issued a statement knowing DOJ was preparing to issue a lawsuit.
“We will not sit idly by and allow the most politically charged Department of Justice in US history to set aside the US constitution and attempt to bully the people of Texas", True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. "We will meet Attorney General Holder in court and we will do whatever we need to do to advance the cause of voters’ rights for all Americans.”
“General Holder’s announcement today demonstrates just how radical the DOJ has become. The same department that criminalizes journalism and fails to prosecute IRS agents who violate the rights of American taxpayers is promising to sue states with taxpayer dollars to block laws passed by elected legislators such as voter ID and citizenship verification.I'll leave you with Former Democratic Congressman Artur Davis, who has since switched to being a Republican, on how voter i.d. laws do not disenfranchise minority voters as Holder claims.
“Every American voter deserves to have his or her vote counted - and not diluted by fraud or error. The DOJ just put itself between the voters of Texas and their guaranteed constitutional and civil rights.
“True the Vote has watched as Attorney General Eric Holder has repeatedly disregarded the rule of law,” Engelbrecht continued. "We understand that this Department of Justice does not believe that protection of voters’ rights should be colorblind.
“Texas will stand its ground in San Antonio – that’s a promise.”