By Brendan Kirby
Lifezette, Feb. 28, 20178 — Signaling a major change from the previous administration, the Justice Department on Monday announced that it was abandoning a key claim in a voter identification lawsuit against Texas.
The Justice Department under then-Attorney General Eric Holder had accused the state of intentionally discriminating against minority voters when it adopted the law in 2011. With the department under new management, however, federal lawyers wrote in a court filing Monday that Texas should be given a chance to follow recommendations made by the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
“Accordingly, the United States has determined that, rather than continuing to litigate the purpose claim on an evolving record, it should give full effect to the Fifth Circuit’s directives by withdrawing that claim and allowing the Texas Legislature the opportunity to rectify any alleged infirmities with its voter identification law,” the filing states.
The Justice Department continues to maintain, as the appellate court found, that the voter ID law had a disparate impact on minorities.
The shift in position comes on the eve of a long-awaited hearing in the case Tuesday and leaves plaintiffs without their most powerful ally. The Justice Department and the state of Texas had sought a postponement of that hearing, but the request was denied.
Advocates of stronger ballot-integrity laws cheered the change.
“Texans are one step closer to having a commonsense voter protection that has been demanded for years,” Public Interest Legal Foundation President J. Christian Adams said in a prepared statement. “Since the Obama administration’s initial filing, the federal government’s position has only grown weaker.”
