The Brief: Appeals Court Looks Again at Texas Voter ID Law
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The Big Conversation
The ongoing legal challenge to Texas’ law requiring photo ID at the polling place took another potentially significant step Wednesday.
Six months after a three-judge appeals court panel ruled the law violated the Voting Rights Act, the full U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals will take up the case, the Tribune’s Jamie Lovegrove reported. A date hasn’t been set yet for oral arguments.
Passed in 2011, the law is defended by its supporters as a common sense measure to better secure the voting process. Critics, though, are challenging it as a measure meant to discriminate against Hispanic and African-American voters.
The law’s provisions are in effect and governing elections in Texas while the legal fight winds its way to a conclusion.
Lovegrove noted that one election law expert, Rick Hasen, wrote on Wednesday that the current vacancy on the U.S. Supreme Court could end up having an impact on the final resolution of the challenge to Texas’ voter ID law.
“The stakes are especially high because this is a case which could divide 4-4 before the current Supreme Court, meaning what the entire 5th circuit does may be the final word on Texas’s law,” Hasen wrote.
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The Day Ahead
• The Tribune's CEO and Editor-in-Chief Evan Smith will have a conversation with Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller at the Austin Club. The conversation begins at 8 a.m. and will be live streamed for those unable to attend the event.
• The Senate Veteran Affairs & Military Installations Committee meets at 9 a.m. in the Capitol extension to hear testimony about the state of veteran health and mental health and review the progress made to reduce the claims backlog and decrease wait times at VA hospitals.
Elsewhere
Is Austin — the 'Silicon Hills' of Texas — the next biotech hub?, Stat
Analysis: Cruz's tax plan would hit seniors, Houston Chronicle
Abbott: Texas joins Israel against terror, San Antonio Express-News
UT finds no wrongdoing in treatment of Palestinian students, Austin American-Statesman
Rubio won’t team up with Cruz on a single ticket, The Dallas Morning News
Contentious Miami Democratic debate features distinct Hispanic flavor, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Texas Taco War comes to a head this week, San Antonio Express-News
Two new Zika cases confirmed in Tarrant County, Fort Worth Star-Telegram
Five-time killer says he's 'sorry' for pain he caused before he's executed, Houston Chronicle
State GOP chairman: ‘We’ve got to unite’, Midland Reporter-Telegram
Quote to Note
"We're not going to beat Donald Trump by having leaders 'tsk tsk' over our voters. We're going to have to beat him at the ballot box."
— Former Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina, endorsing U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for president in Florida
Today in TribTalk
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Trib Events for the Calendar
• How High is the Water? A Data Visualization Party on March 13 at Umbel Corp
• A Conversation with Reps. Craig Goldman, Stephanie Klick and Ramon Romero Jr. on March 29 at Texas Christian University in Fort Worth
• The Price of Admission: A Conversation on the Top 10 Percent Rule on March 31 at Austin Community College Highland Campus
• A Conversation with Sen. Carlos Uresti and Rep. Poncho Nevárez on April 13 at Sul Ross State University in Alpine
• A Symposium on the Texas Economy on April 29 at the University of Houston
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