Houston Matters

As Court Strikes Down Texas’ Voter ID Law, Looking Back at 50 Years of the Voting Rights Act

Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Texas’ voter ID law, ruling the 2011 measure violates the Voting Rights Act. The decision sends the case back to a lower court, which will decide whether lawmakers intended to discriminate when they approved the measure. The ruling came down just a day shy of […]

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Wednesday, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Texas' voter ID law, ruling the 2011 measure violates the Voting Rights Act. The decision sends the case back to a lower court, which will decide whether lawmakers intended to discriminate when they approved the measure.

The ruling came down just a day shy of the 50th anniversary of the Voting Rights Act, signed by President Lyndon Johnson on Aug. 6, 1965. The federal law established rules to stop legal barriers preventing African-Americans from voting.

We discuss yesterday's Fifth Circuit ruling on the state's voter ID law and what happens next. We also look back on the history of the Voting Rights Act. Then, we revisit some of our past conversations about pre-clearance and the Texas voter ID law.

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Michael Hagerty

Michael Hagerty

Senior Producer, Houston Matters

Michael Hagerty is the senior producer for Houston Matters. He's spent more than 20 years in public radio and television and dabbled in minor league baseball, spending four seasons as the public address announcer for the Reno Aces, the Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks.

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