(CBS/AP) WASHINGTON - A federal court has ruled against a Texas law that would require voters to present photo IDs to election officials before being allowed to cast ballots in November.
A three-judge panel in Washington ruled Thursday that the law imposes "strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor" and noted that racial minorities in Texas are more likely to live in poverty.
The decision involves an increasingly contentious political issue: a push, largely by Republican-controlled legislatures and governor's offices, to impose strict identification requirements on voters.
The ruling comes in the same week that South Carolina's strict photo ID law is on trial in front of another three-judge panel in the same federal courthouse. A court ruling in the South Carolina case is expected in time for the November election.
Federal court finds discrimination in new Texas voting maps Earlier in the week, Texas' voting districts were thrown again into upheaval after a federal court found evidence of discrimination in new district maps drawn and approved by the state's Republican-controlled Legislature last year.
The U.S. District Court in Washington wrote in a 154-page opinion that the maps don't comply with the federal Voting Rights Act because state prosecutors failed to show Texas lawmakers did not draw congressional and state Senate districts "without discriminatory purposes."
The ruling applies to the maps originally drawn by the Legislature in 2011, and not interim maps drawn by a San Antonio federal court that are to be used in the upcoming elections this November.
CBS News legal analyst Andrew Cohen said the Supreme Court likely will have the final say on voting maps, and it's been quite supportive of Republican redistricting efforts in the recent past. There's likely to be some sort of expedited appeal.
This ruling was a blow to the GOP because it keeps in place the current voting districts.
I have all the books I could need, and what more could I need than books? I shall only engage in commerce if books are the coin. -- Catherynne M. Valente
I do wish it was possible to strike down laws just because they're stupid and pointless. I mean, yes, this one also has an unacceptable impact on the poor and minorities, but even if it didn't I'd still want to see it go away. No solutions without problems! If I ran for office it'd be on a If it Ain't Broke, Don't Fix It platform. We've got enough problems without wasting time solving imaginary ones.