As I and many others have predicted, the new Voter ID law in Texas has hit a snag.  The Department of Justice is reviewing the law under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act and has made a “more information” request.  This is usually the first overt sign that an objection is coming.  (Actually, the first sign an objection is coming is when the NAACP and other voter fraud denying groups, with their direct access into the DOJ, start making it their number one issue.) 

Texas should immediately withdraw the submission from DOJ and file in Federal District Court before DOJ gets a chance to object to the law.  If DOJ objects to the law, it will be forever tainted in the media, and even to the court in practical terms, if Texas ends up filing with the court for approval.  Florida withdrew a submission from DOJ after strange and troubling discussions with certain DOJ lawyers about a law that merely moved early voting dates and shrunk time to turn in third party voter registration forms. 

Academics have suggested that filing a submission with DOJ is faster and cheaper.  Like the spider to the fly, they claim it is a perfectly friendly forum in the web of the DOJ.  In reality, as Texas may soon find out, it may be fatal to their Voter ID law.  Because Texas will not be back in session, the more information requests adds months before a final objection might be forthcoming, and thereby making it less likely that Voter ID will be used in the 2012 elections in Texas. 

It was an avoidable mistake to submit this law to DOJ, a big avoidable mistake.

The solution?  Withdraw the submission immediately.  Do not turn over a scrap of information to DOJ.  Force them to obtain it in discovery, subject to the Rules of Civil Procedure.