Breaking: Trial Court in Texas Voter ID Case Sets Forth Softening Parameters, Timing

Wasting no time, this scheduling order from the trial court also includes the contours of what a softening rule must look like:

It is further ORDERED that any plan for interim relief must include terms regarding the following:

 All persons who have SB 14 ID or who have the means to get it in time for the November 8, 2016 election must display that ID in order to vote;

 No ID that is easily counterfeited may be used in any ameliorative provision;

 There must be an impediment or indigency exception, which may include reinstatement of the ability to use the voter registration card for such voters;

 The State must educate the public in a meaningful way about the SB 14 ID requirements and all exceptions to those requirements that are set out in the original law and in the interim plan adopted by this Court;

 The State must educate and train workers at polling places to fully implement the resulting plan; and

 The plan shall address only the discriminatory effect holding of the Fifth Circuit’s opinion and shall not include relief that would be available only in the event that this Court finds, upon reweighing the evidence, that SB 14 was enacted with a discriminatory purpose.

Share this: