Supreme Court backs Texas' war on voter fraud

The U.S. Supreme Court has given Texas the go ahead for a law that requires voters in the state to show certain forms of identification before they are able to cast a ballot.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - The October 18 decision came from a majority of justices who rejected an emergency request from the Justice Department and civil rights groups which sought to stop the controversial law from coming into effect.

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The Supreme Court overturned an October 16 decision by U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos, who argued that the law discriminates against Latino and black Americans. The judge said the law would prevent about 600,000 people from voting, something that the state of Texas disputes.

The Supreme Court's order was made 6-3, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan dissenting.

"The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters," wrote Ginsburg in the dissent.

The Texas law sets out seven forms of ID that are approved for voting. This includes concealed handgun licenses, though it does not accept college IDs, which other states with similar laws accept.

Judge Ramos said that the law placed an "unconstitutional burden on the right to vote" and was the equivalent of a poll tax.

A spokeswoman for the Texas attorney general's office, Lauren bean, lauded the Supreme Court's decision.

"We are pleased that the U.S. Supreme Court has agreed that Texas' voter ID law should remain in effect for the upcoming election," she said.

"The state will continue to defend the voter ID law and remains confident that the district court's misguided ruling will be overturned on the merits. The U.S. Supreme Court has already ruled that voter ID laws are a legal and sensible way to protect the integrity of elections."

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