TEXAS: Department Of Justice Accuses State Of Lying To Public About Newly Relaxed Voter ID Requirements

The Texas Tribune reports:

The federal government is accusing Texas of circulating “inaccurate or misleading information” to poll workers and would-be voters about relaxed identification requirements for the November elections. “Limited funds are being spent on inaccurate materials,” the U.S. Department of Justice wrote in a legal filing Tuesday.

The filing asked U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos to “issue corrections to past press releases and other public statements” by Texas officials and “update and redistribute all electronic resources to reflect that all voters” without one of seven types of photo identification required by a 2011 Texas law may cast a ballot in November.

Ramos last month ordered Texas to spend $2.5 million to educate the public about relaxed identification requirements for the looming elections — an attempt to ward off any confusion after a federal appeals court struck down the state’s strict photo identification law — often referred to as Senate Bill 14 — as discriminatory.

Ramos ordered Texas to educate voters about “the opportunity for voters who do not possess SB 14 ID and cannot reasonably obtain it to cast a regular ballot.” Texas refuses to change the language, the filing states, and the state officials believe they are following the court order.

A spokesman for Attorney General Ken Paxton says the state will file its response on Friday.