In a motion filed on Wednesday in Federal District Court in Corpus Christi, Advocacy groups and Federal lawyers said the State’s Education Campaign was misleading voters into believing that voting would still be more difficult than it is.
The reason, the motion stated, is that the Campaign omits the word “reasonably,” stating instead that voters can cast ballots only if they swear that they “cannot obtain” an identification card. That not only ignores the Court’s order, the motion stated, but also leaves voters with the erroneous impression that they cannot vote unless they have exhausted every avenue to acquire an ID.
Texas officials repeatedly refused demands to change the language on official websites or in literature, the motion stated, saying that “cannot obtain” met the Court’s requirement.
The Texas Secretary of State, Carlos H. Cascos, whose office oversees elections, declined to comment. A spokesman for Attorney General Ken Paxton said his office was studying the motion and would file a response by Friday.
The single word may seem a small matter, but the issue is not: More than 600,000 Texans, many if not most of them poor minorities, have none of the required IDs, according to evidence presented in the trial over the Texas law.
The potential impact is magnified, advocacy groups say, by statements by Texas Republicans that suggest the State will closely review the sworn statements by voters without IDs and will prosecute anyone who makes a false declaration.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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