‘No Bueno,’ an article written by Michael King for Point Austin, a column in the Austin Chronicle, sheds light on U.S. District Court’s ruling on the proposed voter ID law in the state of Texas. Although the article is somewhat satirical in nature, it touches on important points surrounding the issue. King acknowledges that reading actual legal decisions “can be a mind-fracking exercise,” and therefore breaks the case down into more understandable terminology for the reader.
For those who aren’t familiar, Texas proposed a voter ID law which, if passed, would have been the harshest in the nation. It would make voting unnecessarily difficult for minorities, poorer citizens, indeed anyone without proper identification. Thankfully, the federal court struck this proposal down, saying “A law that forces poorer citizens to choose between their wages and their franchise unquestionably denies or abridges their right to vote.” As King goes on to point out, GOP congress members didn’t exactly try to make this discriminatory act subtle. Nor did they try to hide the discriminatory intentions of their proposal for redistricting the state. In fact, the intention is to bring the case to the Supreme Court!
I must admit that reading this article saddened me. It saddened me to read that the actual words from a court of law admitted “...we are also persuaded by the totality of the evidence that the plan was enacted with discriminatory intent.” What does this say about our state?! What does this say about our elected officials?! Granted, King’s article does have a leftist slant, but facts don’t lie folks. I would recommend this article to anyone who wants to keep abreast of this controversial topic which is so close to home.
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