AUSTIN, Texas — An appeals court ruled today to allow Texas’ Voter ID law to be enforced for the November 4th election.
The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit issued a stay today, stopping the ruling issued by District Court Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos that held the law to be unconstitutional from going into effect. Attorney General Greg Abbott had filed a motion with the Fifth Circuit asking them to allow the law to be enforced, arguing that “voter confusion” would result if Judge Ramos’ ruling was allowed to stand, because the law had been in place for fifteen months, early voting was set to begin on October 20th, and elections officials around the state had already prepared materials and begun training under the law, SB 14, which was enacted in 2011 and includes a photo ID requirement.
The Attorney General’s office released the following statement from Deputy Communications Director Lauren Bean: “We are pleased that the appeals court has unanimously agreed that Texas’ voter ID law should remain in effect for the upcoming election, which is the right choice in order to avoid voter confusion. The State will continue to defend the voter ID law and remains confident that the district court’s misguided ruling will be overturned on the merits. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that voter ID laws are a legal and sensible way to protect the integrity of elections.”
Abbott happily tweeted the news about the Fifth Circuit’s opinion today:
The plaintiffs can appeal the Fifth Circuit’s decision to the United States Supreme Court. Breitbart Texas will continue to follow this story.
Follow Sarah Rumpf on Twitter @rumpfshaker.
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