Texas voter ID law to be heard by federal appeals court

Plaintiff's lawyers, meanwhile, say they are optimistic.

The panel of judges will have to decide if Ramos was "clearly wrong" in her ruling, and that could be a hard decision for any appellate court, said Myrna Pérez, director of Voting Rights and Elections Project at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. "There was a very strong record in this case."

Two plaintiffs' lawyers will participate in the oral arguments: Erin Flynn with the U.S. Justice Department, and Chad Dunn, who is representing the lead plaintiffs in the Texas case — U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

Dunn said he intends to show the judges the "overwhelming evidence against this law" and how it compels them to reach the same conclusion as Ramos.

"It's not that Texas can't adopt an identification law for voting, it's that the individual decisions made with this law make it unconstitutional," Dunn said, noting the narrow list of valid IDs needed to vote.