Reuters: Politics: U.S. Justice Department wants renewed authority over Texas voting laws

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U.S. Justice Department wants renewed authority over Texas voting laws Jul 25th 2013, 13:50 Tweet Share this Email Print Related News Texas governor signs strict abortion law that sparked protests Thu, Jul 18 2013 Zimmerman prosecutors, self-defense laws draw accusations Wed, Jul 17 2013 Attorney general questions 'Stand Your Ground' laws Tue, Jul 16 2013 Civil rights convention seeks federal charges in Trayvon case Tue, Jul 16 2013 U.S. government to limit ability to seize journalist records Fri, Jul 12 2013 Analysis & Opinion Email tips from Steve Cohen The case for bringing federal charges against Zimmerman The cortege of former first lady Lady Bird Johnson passes by the State Capitol building in Austin, Texas July 15, 2007. Credit: Reuters/Peter Silva WASHINGTON/PHILADELPHIA | Thu Jul 25, 2013 9:50am EDT WASHINGTON/PHILADELPHIA (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department plans to ask a federal court to reinstate its authority over voting laws in Texas, part of a new Obama administration strategy to challenge state and local election laws it says discriminate by race, Attorney General Eric Holder said on Thursday. "Based on the evidence of intentional racial discrimination that was presented last year in the redistricting case, Texas v. Holder ... we believe that the State of Texas should be required to go through a preclearance process whenever it changes its voting laws and practices," Holder told the annual conference of the National Urban League, a civil rights organization, which is meeting in Philadelphia. The Obama administration has been searching for new ways to oppose voting discrimination since the U.S. Supreme Court in June invalidated a key part of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. A 5-4 conservative majority on the high court ruled that a formula used to determine which states and localities were subject to extra federal scrutiny was outdated. (Reporting by David Ingram and Dave Warner; Editing by Scott Malone) Tweet this Link this Share this Digg this Email Reprints We welcome comments that advance the story through relevant opinion, anecdotes, links and data. If you see a comment that you believe is irrelevant or inappropriate, you can flag it to our editors by using the report abuse links. Views expressed in the comments do not represent those of Reuters. For more information on our comment policy, see http://blogs.reuters.com/fulldisclosure/2010/09/27/toward-a-more-thoughtful-conversation-on-stories/ Comments (0) Be the first to comment on reuters.com. Add yours using the box above.

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