Fifth Circuit Denies True the Vote’s Attempted Late Entry into Texas Voter I.D. Challenge

Today, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit denied the effort by the organization True the Vote (“TTV”) to intervene in the Texas voter photo ID case.  True the Vote sought to intervene to defend the discriminatory law.  The trial court had denied intervention last year and True the Vote appealed the denial to the Fifth Circuit. The Campaign Legal Center serves as counsel to the lead plaintiffs challenging the law in the district court and had filed an opposition in the Fifth Circuit to stay the voter ID lawsuit.

“We are relieved the court denied True the Vote’s belated attempt to join the State of Texas in defending a law serving no purpose other than to suppress the ability of black and Latino registered voters to cast their ballots,” said J. Gerald Hebert, Executive Director of The Campaign Legal Center.  “True the Vote fell far short of establishing the right to intervene in the case and we are pleased the court of appeals correctly denied the organization’s effort to participate.”

On December 11, 2013, TTV was denied intervention as a defendant in the consolidated lawsuits (Veasey v. Perry, No. 2:13-cv-193) challenging Texas’s new voter identification law.  The district court found that TTV did not have a particularized interest that the litigation threatens to impair or impede, and that TTV’s generalized interests in the issues will be adequately represented by the State of Texas. That decision was affirmed today by the court of appeals.

The complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center in the case claims that the voter photo ID law (SB 14) violates the 1st, 14th, 15th and 24th Amendments to the Constitution, as well as Section 2 of Voting Rights Act.  Trial is scheduled to begin September 2 in Corpus Christi.  Several challenges (including one brought by the United States) have been brought against the Texas law, which is the one of the most restrictive laws in the nation.  The cases have been consolidated in the Southern District of Texas in Corpus Christi. 

The Campaign Legal Center attorneys are part of the legal team that includes Chad Dunn and K. Scott Brazil (Brazil & Dunn), Neil G. Baron, David Richards (Richards, Rodriguez & Skeith), Armand Derfner (Derfner, Altman & Wilborn), Luis Roberto Vera, Jr. (LULAC).

To read today's Fifth Circuit opinion, click here.

To read the Campaign Legal Center’s opposition to TTV’s motion, click here.