AUSTIN, Texas — Federal judges in Georgia and Texas have ruled against key provisions of two controversial election laws passed two years ago as the Republican Party sought to tighten voting rules after former President Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential campaign.
US District Judge Xavier Rodriguez overturned a provision of Texas law that requires mail-in voters to provide the same identification number that they used to cast their ballot. He ruled that the requirement violated US civil rights law because it would result in people being unable to vote on a matter irrelevant to their registration.
The change led to a spike in absentee ballot rejections in the first election following the passage of the law in September 2021 and has been the subject of a lawsuit by the U.S. Department of Justice.
“This ruling sends a clear message that states must not impose unlawful and unnecessary requirements that disenfranchise voters who wish to participate in our democracy,” Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement following the ruling, issued Thursday .
The Texas Attorney General’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In Georgia, pro-suffrage supporters received mixed judgments from US District Judge JP Boulee on Friday.
He temporarily banned officials from handing out fines to people who provide food and water to voters standing in line while they are more than 150 feet from the building where voting is taking place. He also blocked part of the law requiring voters to write their date of birth on envelopes.
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But Boulee dismissed the groups’ claims that certain legal restrictions deny voters with disabilities meaningful access to postal voting.
This resulted in both sides declaring victory. Georgian Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said in a press release that the court had upheld significant parts of state law.
“I’m glad the court upheld Georgia’s common sense rules forbidding ballot collection and postal ballot box security,” he said. “Georgia’s electoral system is accessible to all voters and provides voters with ample opportunities to choose how they wish to exercise their right to vote.”
Still, civil rights groups suing the law were welcomed by the ruling: “Today’s decisions are important victories for our democracy and the protection of ballot box access in Georgia,” said John Cusick, assistant attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund.
The Georgia and Texas laws were two of the most prominent of a spate of red-state voting restrictions enacted after Trump’s defeat in 2020, which he wrongly blamed on voter fraud. The Voting Rights Lab, which has tracked the legislation since its inception, said more than 100 restrictive laws have been passed in more than 30 Republican-controlled states since 2020.
Conservatives continue to push for more scrutiny of elections, even as initial measures remain mired in litigation.
The Georgia law prompted protests and the relocation of the 2021 Major League Baseball All-Star Game from Atlanta to Denver. However, turnout in the state’s 2022 election remained high, leading Republicans to believe the backlash was overdone.
The Texas bill passed several months later after legislative Democrats fled the capital to delay the measure. It contained even more restrictive provisions on voting rights, some of which increased legal risk for poll workers or even the voters themselves.
Both federal court rulings are likely to be appealed, despite coming two years after the bills were passed. Proponents said they hope they will be confirmed.
“I think these rulings show that the courts agree that these kinds of restrictions, particularly on mail-in ballots, really have no place in our democracy,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, co-director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project.
