MALDEF Wins Court Order Requiring Bexar County Election Officials to Remove Illegal Voter ID Signs

Commentary: A state judge today ordered election officials in Bexar County, Texas to immediately remove all illegal voter ID signs from the early voting polling places and replace them with accurate information.
The ruling comes in response to a lawsuit filed today by MALDEF seeking a temporary restraining order against county election officials. 
Judge Michael Mery’s order requires Bexar County officials also to correct information on the county’s website and its voter hotline, as well as ensure that all 700 election day polling places post accurate signs informing voters of the expanded list of acceptable IDs.
“We applaud the court’s swift action to halt Bexar County’s use of incorrect voter ID requirements that deterred eligible voters from casting a ballot,” said Nina Perales, MALDEF vice president for litigation and lead counsel in the case.  “When a voter is turned away from the polls by illegal signs or poll worker announcements, or decides she cannot vote because the Bexar County website and voter hotline contain incorrect Voter ID information, that is voter suppression.” 
MALDEF filed the lawsuit after its staff attorneys and volunteers documented that Bexar County officials were unlawfully enforcing the racially discriminatory voter ID law at early voting polling places. 
Earlier this month, MALDEF found dozens of counties across Texas were violating the federal Voting Rights Act by failing to provide bilingual voting information on their websites, including information on polling places.
 
Read the ruling HERE