Full 5th Circuit Court Hears Texas Voter ID Case

The restrictive voter ID law has been in and out of the courts for almost five years now, with multiple judges declaring it unconstitutional.

Today, the full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments on Texas' voter ID case.

The law has been in and out of the courts for almost five years now, with multiple judges declaring it unconstitutional. However, after the Supreme Court struck down part of the Voting Rights Act, the bill came back before the courts to be challenged again.

The law should be declared unconstitutional, as it restricts the voting rights of at least 600,000+ Texans:

A federal court in Texas found that 608,470 registered voters don’t have the forms of identification that the state now requires for voting. For example, residents can vote with their concealed-carry handgun licenses but not their state-issued student university IDs.

Previously, a 3-judge panel of the 5th Circuit Court ruled the law was discriminatory and in violation of the Voting Rights Act. Texas Republican officials challenged that ruling, and now an almost-full 5th Circuit Court -- they are two judges shy of a full court because Senators Cornyn & Cruz refuse to fill the vacancies on the court -- are hearing the case.

I had a chance to talk to Austin's NBC and Fox stations about the case. Check out the videos below for more, and stay tuned for the next round of rulings.