Justice Dept. opposes Texas voter ID law

WASHINGTON -- A photo ID requirement for voters in Texas could disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of registered Hispanics, the Justice Department declared yesterday in its latest move against Republican-led voting changes in many states that have drawn protests from minorities, poor people and students.

The Justice Department objection means that now a federal court in Washington will decide whether Texas, as well as South Carolina, will be allowed to enforce new voter photo ID requirements. Justice's move merely blocked a Texas law until the court rules.

Other states have similar laws, and more are moving toward them as advocates portray the restrictions as needed to combat voter fraud. But advocacy groups for minorities and the poor argue there is no significant voter fraud.

The Justice Department conveyed its objection in a letter to Texas officials that was also filed in the U.S. District Court case in Washington.

Justice said Hispanic voters in Texas are at least 50 percent more likely and possibly more than twice as likely as non-Hispanic voters to lack a driver's license or a personal state-issued photo ID, which the Texas law requires.

The range was so broad because Texas provided two sets of registered voter data to the Justice Department. It relied on the lists for the estimates of 175,000 and 304,000 registered Hispanic Texas voters who do not have the required ID.

Since the beginning of the 2011 legislative session, eight states have passed photo ID laws: Alabama, Kansas, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Wisconsin, Mississippi and Rhode Island. All but two were enacted by Republican legislatures and Republican governors.