The decision by US District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos came after an appeals court last year said the 2011 law had an outsized impact on minority voters and returned the case to Judge Ramos to determine if lawmakers intentionally wrote the legislation to be discriminatory.  Judge Ramos said that evidence ‘establishes that a discriminatory purpose was at least one of the substantial or motivating factors behind passage’ of the measure.

Undermining minorities claim

The ruling on voter ID comes follows a month after two federal judges ruled that Texas lawmakers drew up three US congressional districts to specifically undermine the influence of Hispanic voters. The measure requires voters to present photo identification such as a driver's license, passport or military ID card. It has been argued that the controversial law hits elderly and poorer voters, including minorities, hardest because they are less likely to have identification. Plaintiffs have contended that the measure is used by Republicans to suppress voters who typically align with Democrats.

Impact

Texas has a population of more than 25 million people. As of the 2010 US Census, the racial distribution in Texas was as follows: 70.4 per cent of the population of Texas was White American, 11.8 per cent African American,  3.8 per cent Asian American, 0.7 per cent American Indian, 0.1 per cent, native Hawaiian or Pacific islander only, 10.5 per cent of some other race only and 2.7 per cent were of two or more races. Hispanics (of any race) were 37.6 per cent of the population of the state, while Non-Hispanic Whites composed 45.3 per cent. It is estimated that some 1.7 million people in Texas may be illegal.