Supreme Court Voter Suppression

Working as Intended

ThinkProgress shares the story of a 93-year old veteran who was turned away from voting in Texas even though he carried several forms of photo identification.

The man [election judge] Parsley said he had to turn away was a registered voter, but his license had been expired for a few years, likely because he had stopped driving. Parsley said the man had never gotten a veteran’s identification card. And though he had “all sorts” of other identification cards with his picture on it, they weren’t valid under the law — so the election judges told him he had to go to the Department of Public Safety, and renew his license.

Many more states than previously now have voter ID laws because the Supreme Court, in its infinite wisdom, declared that racism is over. The highest court ruled that states that required pre-clearance from the Department of Justice before altering their election laws no longer needed pre-clearance, effectively voiding a large swath of the Voting Rights Act.

And while many states have voter ID laws on the books now, the Texas law is considered to be the most restrictive in the nation because many forms of identification are not considered valid.

A district judge struck down the Texas law, but as you’re probably aware the abominable Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals, which is packed with batshit conservative judges, overturned the ruling.