A federal court in Corpus Christi will decide this week whether or not to postpone the trial date for a case challenging the constitutionality of the Texas voter ID law.
About a week ago, Federal District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos set the trial date for Sept. 2, 2014, about two months before the 2014 State General Election.
Attorney General Greg Abbott’s office filed a request this week asking for the trial to be pushed back to March 2015.
State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, D-San Antonio, is part of the Mexican-American Legislative Caucus, one of the plaintiffs in the case, and said Gonzales Ramos was very careful deciding the trial date during the group’s first hearing.
"And used in part of her decision-making, used the fact that she has heard some compelling evidence as to why this trial needs to occur prior to the 2014 general election," Martinez Fischer said. "I think that that’s significant for voting rights advocates and those critical of these photo-voter ID requirements in Texas."
Both sides of the voter ID argument will appear before a federal judge this Friday, Nov. 22, to argue when a trial should be scheduled.
This past constitutional election was the first time the state enforced the voter ID law, which requires voters to produce a state-approved ID before casting a ballot.
