The Texas Attorney General’s Office today defended the state’s Voter ID law before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. Texas Solicitor General Scott Keller presented arguments on behalf of the State of Texas before Chief Judge Carl E. Stewart and Judges Catharina Haynes and Nannette Jolivette Brown (USDJ-ELA). Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton released the following statement:
“Safeguarding the integrity of our elections process is essential to preserving our democracy, and the district court’s ruling should be reversed in full. In Texas we have successfully held three statewide elections and numerous local and special elections with the voter ID law in place – with no disenfranchisement reported. Baseless attempts to undermine our voter ID law are motivated purely by political opposition, and have nothing to do with protecting one of our society’s most fundamental and important rights.”
The Texas Legislature enacted Texas’ voter ID law in 2011 through Senate Bill 14 (SB14), which requires voters to present government-issued photo ID when voting at the polls. The seven acceptable forms of photo ID include the following: a Texas driver’s license, free Texas election identification card (EIC), Texas personal identification card, Texas license to carry a concealed handgun, U.S. military identification card, U.S. citizenship certificate, and U.S. passport.