Voting Rights Groups and DOJ File Lawsuit Against Texas Officials

Voting rights advocates and the US Department of Justice recently filed a motion against Texas state officials for miss-educating the public with regards to the new voter ID law issued in July. The case was filed with the Federal District Court in Corpus Christi, and is expected to be heard by US District Judge Nelda Ramos on Monday.

Why the Lawsuit was Filed

The case argues that Texas’ educational campaign created misleading information that would discourage certain voters from voting in November. Federal Courts ordered Texas to spend $2.5 million in educational programs to inform the public and election officials about new voting procedures, specifically informing that voters would not need to provide an ID to vote if they signed a statement saying that they could “not reasonably obtain” an ID.

However, many websites and literature used in the mandatory educational campaign omitted the word “reasonable” when informing voters of their right to vote without IDs. This action, according to the case, discourages voters without accepted forms of IDs from voting because it implies that voters can only sign these statements if obtaining an ID is impossible.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton stated that voters who lie about their possession of a valid ID are subject to prosecution of perjury on Fox News.

This move, along with the lack of exact wording from Federal Courts, discourages voters without IDs from voting according to the Justice Department. Federal lawyers who filed the case stated “That the state has stripped the word ‘reasonably’ from the court-ordered phrase ‘cannot reasonably obtain,’ matters significantly.”

In fact, reasonable causes for not having a valid ID could be attributed to family responsibilities, work schedules, disabilities, and other restraints as far as the new voting law is concerned. Alternative IDs that are currently allowed as proof under the precedent Federal Court ruling in July include paychecks, bills, and many other federal or official documents that include a voter’s name and address.