Federal Court Rules Against Texas Voter ID Law

A three-judge panel in Washington, D.C. has ruled against Texas and the Voter ID law. According to FOX News:

A three-judge panel in Washington ruled Thursday that the law imposes "strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor" and noted that racial minorities in Texas are more likely to live in poverty.

The decision involves an increasingly contentious political issue: a push, largely by Republican-controlled legislatures and governor's offices, to impose strict identification requirements on voters.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott released this statement in response:

"The Supreme Court of the United States has already upheld Voter ID laws as a constitutional method of ensuring integrity at the ballot box. Today's decision is wrong on the law and improperly prevents Texas from implementing the same type of ballot integrity safeguards that are employed by Georgia and Indiana - and were upheld by the Supreme Court. The State will appeal this decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, where we are confident we will prevail."

You can read the full opinion of the court here.

So it appears as though this issue will continue to the Supreme Court. Texas may not be the only state though looking at the Supreme Court. South Carolina has their Voter ID law on trial by a different three-judge panel in the same court.

What do you think about Voter ID and the ruling from the three-judge panel?

**UPDATE: Comments from Governor Rick Perry and Senator John Cornyn**

Governor Rick Perry released this statement this afternoon:

“Chalk up another victory for fraud. Today, federal judges subverted the will of the people of Texas and undermined our effort to ensure fair and accurate elections. The Obama Administration’s claim that it’s a burden to present a photo ID to vote simply defies common sense. I will continue to work with Attorney General Abbott to fight for the same right that other states already have to protect their elections.”

Senator John Cornyn released this statement:

“Though I’m disappointed in today’s decision, the Supreme Court will have the final say as Texas fights to preserve the integrity of the voting process with a commonsense, constitutional law vital to the health of our democracy.”