Today, the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals determined that Texas’ current photo voter ID law, S.B. 5, sufficiently remedies discrimination against Black and Latino voters. The decision reverses a lower court order that blocked Texas from enforcing that law and an earlier iteration of it.
“We are disappointed in today’s ruling and considering our next steps, but it is important to note that this decision does not affect a trial court’s intentional discrimination and effects rulings,” said Sherrilyn Ifill, LDF’s President and Director Counsel. “We maintain that no voter should ever be turned away from the polls because of an ID requirement and we will continue to aggressively pursue the right to vote wherever it is challenged.
“Since its very inception, we have fought hard against the enactment of Texas’ voter ID laws, S.B. 14 and its descendant S.B. 5. Through steadfast, years-long litigation, we successfully proved that S.B. 14 is intentionally discriminatory and disproportionately impacts Black and Latino voters in Texas.”
Read the full decision here.
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Founded in 1940, the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) is the nation’s first civil and human rights law organization and has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the NAACP Legal Defense Fund or LDF.
