(CN) — Texas' voter ID law discriminates against minorities and must be revised before Election Day, the en banc Fifth Circuit affirmed Wednesday.
The ruling came in under the wire of a July 20 deadline that the U.S. Supreme Court set with the Nov. 8 presidential election in mind, allowing time for a lower court to propose changes to the voter ID law.
"We conclude that the district court did not clearly err in determining that SB 14 has a discriminatory effect on minorities' voting rights in violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act. As discussed below, we remand for a consideration of the appropriate remedy in light of the impending general election," Judge Catharina Haynes wrote for the majority.
Haynes added, "In sum, the district court's immediate responsibility is to ensure the implementation of an interim remedy for SB 14's discriminatory effect that disrupts voter identification rules for the 2016 election season as little as possible, yet eliminates the Section 2 discriminatory effect violation."
Passed by the Republican-controlled Texas Legislature in 2011, Senate Bill 14 requires all Texas voters to come to the polls with photo identification.
The New Orleans-based federal appeals court agreed Wednesday with U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos that SB 14 has a discriminatory impact on minority voter turnout because black and Latino voters are less likely to possess one of seven acceptable forms of photo ID.
It was a mixed-bag for Texas as the Fifth Circuit reversed Ramos' judgment that Texas intentionally crafted the law to disenfranchise left-leaning voters.
"To avoid disruption of the upcoming election, the district court should first focus on fashioning interim relief for the discriminatory effect violation in the months leading up to the November general election. The district court should then reevaluate the evidence relevant to discriminatory intent and determine anew whether the Legislature acted with a discriminatory intent in enacting SB 14," Haynes wrote in the 86-page majority opinion.
The majority blocked enforcement of the law and ordered Ramos to propose remedies that will make it easier for minorities to vote.
Out of deference to the Texas Legislature, the appeals court urged Ramos to keep the law largely intact. It will then decide whether to implement the proposed changes for Election Day.
Prior to SB 14's passage, the rules allowed voters to present a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or mail from a government agency to cast a ballot.
The en banc majority advised Ramos Wednesday that simply reverting to prior rules is not sufficient.
"The opinion is stunning! It basically tells the district court how to find intent on the remand!" Texas A&M law professor Lynne Rambo said in an email to Courthouse News.
Judge Edith Jones blasted the majority for sending the discriminatory intent question back to Ramos for more vetting.
"Overwhelming evidence from the complete record...negated any racially discriminatory purpose behind SB 14," the President Ronald Reagan-nominee wrote in a partly dissenting and concurring opinion joined by four of her colleagues.
She also criticized the majority for opening the courthouse door too wide for similar challenges.
"Today's result moves us another step down the road of judicial supremacy by potentially subjecting virtually every voter regulation to litigation in federal court," Jones wrote in a 67-page dissenting opinion.