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Texas intentionally discriminated with 2011 voter ID law, judge rules (again)

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Texas intentionally discriminated with 2011 voter ID law, judge rules (again)
Voters line up outside the Oak Cliff Sub-Courthouse in Dallas, Texas, for the first day of early voting on Monday, Oct. 24, 2016. Photo: Laura Buckman for The Texas Tribune

U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled Monday that Texas “has not met its burden” in proving that lawmakers passed the nation’s strictest photo ID law without knowingly targeting minority voters.

The 10-page ruling, if it withstands almost certain appeals, could ultimately put Texas back on the list of states needing federal approval before changing election laws. A 2013 Supreme Court ruling sprung Texas and other states with a history of discrimination from that list.

U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals last July ruled that the Texas law disproportionally targeted minority voters who were less likely to have one of the seven forms of state-approved photo ID — a violation of the U.S. Voting Rights Act. And Texas conducted the 2016 General Elections under a court-ordered relaxation of the rules.

But the appeals court asked Ramos, of Corpus Christi, to reconsider her previous ruling that lawmakers discriminated on purpose.

After reweighing the evidence, she came to the same conclusion, according to Monday’s ruling.

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