In a 5-4 decision on Tuesday, the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. Afterwards, advocates of voter identification laws wasted no time.
Lawmakers in several states affected by the ruling spoke out on Tuesday about the new prospects for voter ID in their states.
Texas
“Eric Holder can no longer deny #VoterID in #Texas after today’s #SCOTUS decision,” Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott tweeted on Tuesday, after the decision.
Texas’ controversial voter ID law was blocked last year by the very provision of the Voting Rights Act that was struck down on Tuesday.
“With today’s decision, the State’s voter ID law will take effect immediately,” Abbott told The Dallas Morning News.
Mississippi
Mississippi voter could have to start showing identification to vote by next June’s primaries, Mississippi Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann said Tuesday.
“We’re not the same old Mississippi that our fathers’ fathers were,” Hosemann said during a press conference, according to the Associated Press.
North Carolina
A voter ID bill passed the North Carolina House two months ago, but had been waiting in the state Senate’s Rules Committee. No more.
State Sen. Tom Apodaca (R ) told the Associated Press the bill will be rolled out to the state Senate next week.
From the AP:
[Apodaca] predicted an omnibus voting bill would surface in the Senate next week that could go beyond voter ID to include issues such as reducing early voting, eliminating Sunday voting and barring same-day voter registration.
Virginia
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell (R ) said Tuesday that the Supreme Court’s ruling could delay implementation of a law that would require voter ID starting in July 2014, according to The Richmond Times-Dispatch.
“We’re in a little bit of limbo,” McDonnell said during a radio appearance, citing the fact that Congress could enact new standards for which states and districts need to have election changes pre-approved.
But later in the day, a spokesperson for McDonnell walked back his boss’ statement.
“As we review the Supreme Court’s opinion, it does not appear that the voter identification legislation will be delayed as a result of the Supreme Court’s ruling,” Paul Shanks, McDonnell’s deputy director of communications, told the Times-Dispatch.
“We will be working with the Attorney General’s Office to determine what, if any, impact the decision will have on the implementation of this legislation in July of 2014,” Shanks said.
