In this Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2014 photo, an election official checks a voter’s photo identification at an early voting polling site, in Austin, Texas. In elections that begin next week, voters in 10 states will be required to present photo identification before casting ballots _ the first major test of voter ID laws after years of legal challenges arguing that the measures are designed to suppress voting. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)
AUSTIN — Some plaintiffs challenging Texas’ voter ID law want a federal appeals court to speed up its consideration of the case, looking to sort it out before the next wave of elections in the state.
In a court document filed Wednesday, the plaintiffs note that 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has not yet set a schedule to hear the case, casting uncertainty over how much time its outcome will give municipalities to prepare for their elections in May.
“This Court should seek to resolve this appeal as promptly as possible in order to ensure that a constitutional system of voter identification is implemented for upcoming elections,” wrote the plaintiffs, which include U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Texas, and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
In October, a federal judge ruled the statute, state Senate Bill 14, was unconstitutional, likening it to a “poll tax.” The state appealed to the 5th Circuit, which expressed concern about tinkering with voting rules “on the eve of an election” and reinstated the law for the Nov. 4 contests. The plaintiffs asked the U.S. Supreme Court to step in, and the justices sided with the appeals court, keeping SB 14 in place for Election Day.
In the latest filing, the plaintiffs remind the 5th Circuit that the federal judge found hundreds of thousands of voters may have been disenfranchised by the law on Nov. 4. Viewed as one of the toughest laws of its kind in the country, SB 14 requires to show one of seven forms of ID to cast a ballot.
