Out of Beaumont, Texas: The Beaumont BISD was patiently working with DOJ, but the Texas state court ruined it all… by interpreting the law and ruling.  In the letter
from the Department of Justice, Assistant Attorney General Thomas E.
Perez says it could have changed the outcome of the situation.

Had the state court reopened the candidate qualifying
period after the decision [that all trustee seats were up for election],
even for a short period of time, the incumbent trustees or other
residents of those districts would likely have qualified, thereby
providing the voters in these districts with the opportunity to
participate in the electoral process and the ability to elect their
candidates of choice. This eventuality could have significantly
mitigated, and potentially eliminated, the retrogressive effect of the
changes.

Well, there you have it. DoJ uses Section 5 against the third branch, the judiciary.  If only the four justices on the state court (the 9th Court of Appeals) had ruled a certain way, the right way, on whether to reopen a filing deadline, this action would not have been necessary.  But the court didn’t consult with Tom Perez.  Surely we know that the four judges from Texas hearing all the facts and applying the law had deep discriminatory reasons for their ruling.  Of course, citizens have a higher federal civil right to vote for candidates even if they may may not have properly qualified or took timely steps to run as a candidate under local or state law.