The Supreme Court said Saturday that Texas can use its voter identification law in November’s election.
A federal judge struck down the law earlier in October, saying it created “an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.” That same judge later issued an injunction blocking the law’s implementation.
That decision was put on hold by a federal appeals court, citing issues with changing voting rules so close to an election, according to the New York Times.
In a 6-3 decision, with Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayor dissenting, the Supreme Court said Texas can proceed with elections as planned while the lower court decisions move through the appeals process.
“The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters,” Ginsburg wrote in her dissent.
Ginsburg noted that the injunction would have had “little risk” of disrupting Texas’ voting process, citing the existing voter ID law used in five federal elections from 2003 to 2013.
The law’s critics say it is the toughest in the nation and would disenfranchise as many as 600,000 voters, a disproportionate share of whom are minorities. Texas officials dispute those points.
Early voting begins Monday in Texas.
