Obama Administration Sues Texas Over Voter ID

The Justice Department intends to file a lawsuit against Texas over a voter ID law that it contends violates the 14th and 15th Amendments, along with what's left of the Voting Rights Act. The government will essentially argue that the ID law is intentionally attempting to restrict minority access to voting—which, the AP points out, could prove tricky since, unlike other parts of the VRA, it's not enough to simply prove that the effect of the law would be discriminatory.

The Supreme Court recently voided the list of locations subject to the VRA's oversight. But the Justice Department is also jumping into a separate lawsuit over Texas' redistricting and arguing that it, too, is intentionally discriminatory, and that Texas should be subjected to preclearance of its electoral maps once again, the Washington Post reports. "We will not allow the Supreme Court’s recent decision to be interpreted as open season for states to pursue measures that suppress voting rights," Eric Holder said. (More Voting Rights Act stories.)