Department of Justice Letter Seeking Texas Preclearance Denial
The Brennan Center for Justice, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Texas State Conference of the NAACP submitted a joint letter to the Department of Justice, relying on extensive statistical evidence to show that Texas’ newly-passed voter ID restrictions will disproportionately harm minority voting rights in the state.
The Brennan Center for Justice, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Texas State Conference of the NAACP submitted a joint letter to the Department of Justice, relying on extensive statistical evidence to show that Texas’ newly-passed voter ID restrictions will disproportionately harm minority voting rights in the state.
Under the Voting Rights Act, changes to Texas’ election laws must be “precleared” by the United States Department of Justice or a federal court. The letter asserts that Texas has not met its obligation under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act to demonstrate the law was not motivated by a discriminatory purpose and does not have discriminatory effects, and urges the Department of Justice to deny Texas’ request for preclearance of the law.
Read the letter below, or download it as a PDF.