Student Government Association president Priscilla Barbour, who requested the polling place two months ago, said she was thrilled by the decision. For years students have had to walk or drive more than a mile to the nearest polling place, which Barbour says is a violation of students’ civil rights.

“It was just that sigh of relief,” said Barbour, a senior political science major. “I didn’t know if I wanted to jump up for joy or cry. This has been a long journey.”

In July, Barbour sent a letter to Waller County Registrar Robyn German and Texas Secretary of State John Steen asking them to remedy what she and civil rights leaders described as decades of voter suppression in the county. The city of Prairie View accommodates students with a polling location on campus, but Waller County officials have refused to do the same, she said.

“I feel that this was a combined effort by the Election Administration Office, (Waller County) Judge Glenn Beckendorff, Commissioner Jeron Barnett, the secretary of state, True the Vote and yes, Ms. Barbour,” German said in an email.

Former Deputy Chief of Voting Section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice

(Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced today its newest team member, attorney Robert D. Popper.  As Deputy Chief of the Voting Section of the Department of Justice (DOJ), he led complex litigations involving the Voting Rights Act, the National Voter Registration Act, and the Help America Vote Act, and he obtained favorable results in major lawsuits in Alabama, Arizona, Indiana, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and California.  Mr. Popper will help lead Judicial Watch’s Election Integrity Project. 

Judicial Watch president Tom Fitton issued the following statement on Popper’s hiring:

“We are pleased and proud to welcome Robert Popper on board.  Judicial Watch has made election integrity a centerpiece of its activities.  As one of the nation’s top lawyers in the area of election law, Robert Popper shares its deep and sincere interest in making certain that every vote cast is legitimate.  Bob will be helping lead our efforts to strengthen the integrity of our elections – which is under unprecedented assault by the Obama Justice Department and allied leftist groups.”

Mr. Popper has garnered numerous professional awards, including the Justice Department’s prestigious Special Commendation Award for Outstanding Service.  

Prior to joining the DOJ, Mr. Popper worked as a private attorney in New York City for 17 years.  He served as trial counsel in federal and state trials, appeals, and arbitrations.  His practice extended to a wide range of legal matters – including voting rights.  Mr. Popper served as both trial and appellate counsel in a successful constitutional challenge alleging racial segregation in the design of New York’s congressional districts.  As counsel for the plaintiffs, Mr. Popper obtained a favorable ruling from a three-judge federal panel in the Eastern District of New York, which was summarily affirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Popper is a published author on the topic of voting rights law.  He developed a legal standard relating to gerrymandering that is widely cited by experts and was adopted by the Arizona Independent Redistricting Commission.  He has spoken about voting rights to a conference of U.S. Attorneys at the National Advocacy Center, to a conference of state officials, and before countless local community representatives.  He has testified before the Missouri Senate Redistricting Committee on gerrymandering.  He has made radio and television appearances on behalf of the Heartland Institute.

Mr. Popper is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and Northwestern University Law School.  He is admitted to practice in the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Founded in 1994, Judicial Watch Inc. is a constitutionally conservative, nonpartisan educational foundation that promotes transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law.

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HOUSTON, TX. September 25, 2013 ― True the Vote (TTV), the nation’s leading voters’ rights and election integrity organization, today filed a Motion to Intervene and Answers to the Holder Justice Department’s complaint against Texas’ voter identification law (United States, et. al v. Texas, et. al (2:13-cv-00263)).

“The Holder Justice Department has made clear its litigation against Texas will serve as a warning that other states should not pursue election integrity measures – True the Vote stands ready to fight their effort to dilute voters’ rights,” True the Vote President Catherine Engelbrecht said. “Over 80 percent of Americans favor laws changing to require photo voter identification at the polls1. When the DOJ makes baseless claims to obscure the integrity of the voting process, we will not stand idly by. If Texas is to be labeled a political prize by the Plaintiffs and their Interveners, attacking election integrity will not be an acceptable strategy.”

“We’re confident that our client’s Petition to Intervene will be granted and will make a real impact on how the case is litigated,” attorney Joe Nixon of the Houston-based Beirne, Maynard & Parsons said. “We will argue that the DOJ simply cannot attack Texas’ voter ID requirement in the absence of an aggrieved individual.”

True the Vote engaged legal representation from Houston-based Joe Nixon and Trey Trainor of Beirne, Maynard & Parsons, L.L.P. and J. Christian Adams of the Election Law Center. TTV’s Motion to Intervene and Answers were filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas, Corpus Christi Division.