The U.S. Justice Department said Thursday that it will sue Texas to block a state law which requires proof of citizenship to vote, the latest volley in a nationwide battle over controversial voter ID laws, which critics say disenfranchise immigrants, people of color and the elderly.<\/p>\n
In a press release, the DOJ also stated that it will separately intervene in the state’s redistricting laws. The release states that both laws were adopted with the “purpose, and will have the result, of denying or abridging the right to vote on account of race, color, or membership in a language minority group.”<\/p>\n
The announcement comes one day after Kansas and Arizona filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government in an attempt to secure the right to exercise their own voter ID laws.<\/p>\n
The Republican-led states accuse the U.S. Election Assistance Commission, an agency of President Barack Obama’s administration, of preventing them from enforcing the laws, which they say are aimed at preventing voter fraud.<\/p>\n
The federal form now asks for a verbal pledge that the applicant is a U.S. citizen, but does not require documentation as proof.<\/p>\n