Law professor says Ted Cruz Texas voter ID law is racist in heated court exchange

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Cruz had asked Franita Tolson, associate dean of faculty and university affairs and professor of law at the University of Southern California, if she found the laws on voter identification racist.

After Tolson replied that it “depends”, Cruz specifically asked, “Which voter identification laws are racist?

“Apologies Mr. Cruz, your state of Texas, maybe,” Tolson replied.

Texas has one of the toughest election laws in the country, and the state has undergone a national review in recent weeks after Republican Gov. Greg Abbott enacted a bill banning 24-hour voting on 24 and behind the wheel, imposing new obstacles on mail. -in ballots and empowers partisan poll observers.

The state Voter Identification Act, which was passed in 2011 and came into effect in 2013 after Supreme Court decision 5-4 in Shelby County v. Holder, required voters to present government-issued photo ID, such as a state driver’s license, Texas voter ID certificate, US passport, or military ID.

Supporters said requiring photo ID before voting would prevent voter fraud. Critics, however, argued that the law deprived poor and minority voters of the right to vote, who have difficulty obtaining identity documents.

A federal court blocked the measure in the 2016 election, but lawmakers implemented a second measure – Senate Bill 5 – that allowed voters who did not have photo ID to vote by signing a declaration and providing supporting documents.

Asked by Cruz on Wednesday about what made the Texas Voter Identification Act racist, Tolson replied, “The fact that the Voter Identification Act was put in place to diminish the political power of Latinos for racist.”

Beyond Texas, Republican-controlled states across the country have picked up on former President Donald Trump’s lies about widespread voter fraud and restricted access to the polls this year. Already, Florida, Georgia and other states have enacted new restrictive voting laws.

Passing new congressional voting legislation will almost certainly require changing the filibuster rules, as Democrats’ slim majority in the Senate is not enough to overcome GOP opposition – and it is not. clear that Democrats have the votes to pass a bill anyway. Last week, Senate Democrats proposed new legislation to revise voting laws after months of discussions to get all of their 50 members behind a single bill, and the new proposal is expected to be the subject soon. a procedural vote.

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