Voting Rights

Critics of tough voter ID laws are running out of time and options in their efforts to knock down those barriers ahead of this year's midterm elections.

Opponents got good news last week, when a state judge struck down Arkansas's law, and another jolt Tuesday, when a federal judge ruled Wisconsin's law, which wasn't yet in effect, was unconstitutional.

Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled this week that the state of Texas must turn over legislators' emails related to the much-disputed 2011 voter ID law they passed:

WASHINGTON -- Any legislators' emails that reveal a discriminatory motive for passing a 2011 Texas voter ID law, signed by Gov. Rick Perry (R), could soon come to light thanks to a federal judge's recent ruling.

When the U.S. Supreme Court struck down a key part of the Voting Rights Act last June, justices left it to Congress to decide how to fix the law. But while Congress deliberates, activists are turning again to the courts: At least 10 lawsuits have the potential to bring states and some local jurisdictions back under federal oversight 2013 essentially doing an end-run around the Supreme Court's ruling.

The 24th Amendment is going to be litigated in the Texas voter id case later this yearhttps://thevoterupdate.com/trail/?p=1209#.UuGbRGfnYY3

The debate about voting in Texas over the past several years has focused on the controversial voter ID law that passed in 2011 and finally took effect over the summer. It was a necessary step to prevent voter fraud, supporters said, while opponents countered that it erected illegal hurdles to voting, particularly for poor and minority populations.