Justice Department Sues Texas Over New Voting Restrictions Law

[mcar]

Hmm, guess Garland is doing something after all.

Justice Department Sues Texas Over New Voting Restrictions Law

The Department of Justice sued the state of Texas on Thursday, alleging that the package of voting restrictions Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in September violates federal law.

The Texas law violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by restricting the ability of voters with disabilities to receive certain types of assistance at the polls, the department said. The state law also violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by requiring Texas election officials to reject absentee ballots based on minor paperwork errors that are “immaterial” to determining whether a voter is eligible to cast such a ballot.

Both provisions would unlawfully disenfranchise voters in what is already one of the nation’s most restrictive states, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

“Our democracy depends on the right of eligible voters to cast a ballot and to have that ballot counted,” Garland said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. “The Justice Department will continue to use all the authorities at its disposal to protect this fundamental pillar of our society.”

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/doj-sues-texas-voting-restrictions-law_n_618449bbe4b06de3eb72b278

[PSPS]

1. That's why the pre-clearance requirement was there, until the partisan GOP "supreme court" killed it

[LetMyPeopleVote]

2. Justice Department sues Texas over new voting restrictions

These are two of the easiest to attack voter suppression measures in SB1 that serve no purpose other than to suppress the vote. This is a well done petition drafted by strong attorneys and this case will be fun to watch

Link to tweet

The Justice Department is suing Texas over new voting restrictions that the federal government says will disenfranchise eligible voters and violate federal voting rights law.

The lawsuit filed Thursday in federal court in San Antonio challenges the law known as SB1 passed earlier this year to overhaul election procedures in the state.....

The Justice Department lawsuit said the law illegally restricts voters' rights by requiring rejection of mail ballots "for immaterial errors and omissions." The law also harms the rights of voters with limited English proficiency, military members deployed away from home and voters overseas, the Justice Department alleged.

"Before SB 1, the State of Texas already imposed some of the strictest limitations in the nation on the right of certain citizens to voting assistance. SB 1 further, and impermissibly, restricts the core right to meaningful assistance in the voting booth," the Justice Department said.

This case makes me smile