AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas will appeal a federal court ruling that a state law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls discriminates against low-income blacks and Hispanics.
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says he'll appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court and expects to prevail.
Thursday's court decision by a three-judge panel in Washington wiped out for the November election a measure championed by conservatives. The judges ruled unanimously that the 2011 law imposes "strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor" and noted that Texas' racial minorities are more likely to live in poverty.
In response, Republican Gov. Rick Perry said the federal judges "subverted the will of the people of Texas." But a Democratic state representative says the rulings air the state's "dirty laundry."
It was the state's second major loss in court in three days. A separate federal panel ruled Tuesday that Texas' Republican-dominated Legislature failed to avoid "discriminatory purposes" when drawing new maps for congressional districts and both houses of the state Legislature to reflect Texas' booming population.
