(Op-ed) Kill the Texas voter ID law and start over

Texas’ strict voter ID law could be dead before the November presidential election.

It should be. Not that a fair law requiring voters to present proper identification at the polls is out of the question, but the law passed by the Legislature in 2011 is and has always been too restrictive.

Arguments for and against the Texas law were heard again Tuesday by the U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans.

A Supreme Court ruling in 2013 allowed the Texas restrictions to go into effect, spurring a new round of challenges.

A federal judge in Corpus Christi and a three-judge appeals panel at the 5th Circuit have agreed with plaintiffs, led by U.S. Rep. Marc Veasey, D-Fort Worth, that the law discriminates against minority and low-income voters.