If you’ve been on the voting rights tour bus in Texas, what a ride it’s been—especially since 2013.
Prior to then, the state was beholden to the Voting Rights Act of 1965—a historic law that prohibited racial discrimination—and a particular provision therein. Under Section 5 of the VRA, certain states and local governments needed federal preclearance before changing any voting laws. The feds ran jurisdictions through a formula set out under Section 4(b) of the VRA that looked at their histories of voter discrimination laws or practices. Texas, with its well-documented past of voter suppression tactics, required preclearance.
Then came the 2013 U.S. Supreme Court case Shelby v. Holder. In a 5-4 decision, the justices struck down Section 4(b) as unconstitutional, effectively rendering Section 5’s preclearance provision moot. With the federal cat away, Texas began to play. Section 4(b)’s body was barely lukewarm when then-Attorney General Greg Abbott announced a new, stringent voter ID law would take effect. The state later stymied efforts to make voter registration easier. Just this past session, the Lege tried to pass a bill that would put polling places in areas with higher numbers of registered voters, a rule that would favor white neighborhoods. (One provision even made it a felony if a person voted when they’re ineligible, even if was inadvertent, a specific proposal that seemed aimed at cases like Crystal Mason’s.) An advocate once described Texas’ voting policies as “a panoply of voter suppression.”
