#Federal Judge finds Texas guilty of violating vote registration law for a second time

A federal judge has found the state of Texas guilty of violating the National Voter Registration Act for a second time by not allowing residents to register to vote when they update their driver’s license information online.

A 68-page ruling by U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia ruled that the state is legally obligated to let voters register to vote any time they renew their license or register a new address.

The ruling comes after Texas resident Jarrod Stringer, a former English professor, was denied the right to register to vote while renewing his drivers license online, reports the Texas Tribune.

Stringer originally thought that he had registered back in 2014, and sued the state after being turned away at the polls when he went to vote at the University of Austin in San Antonio.

In 2018, Garcia ruled that the State of Texas violated the National Voter Registration Act, which requires states to let residents reregister when they renew or apply for a drivers license, and also violated the Constitution’s guarantee of equal protection.

Garcia ordered the state to create its first online voter registration system, but his ruling was overturned in 2019 when another judge said that since Stringer and other plaintiffs had ultimately re-registered to vote, the case was moot.

Then, in January, Stringer filed a second lawsuit when he wasn’t able to update his information with his Houston address.

Garcia, once again presiding over the case, said “DPS encourages Texans to use its online services to renew their driver’s license and change their address because it is easier and more convenient.

“It cannot, at the same time, deny simultaneous voter registration applications when those online services are used.”

As of Friday, Garcia ruled that the State of Texas “offered no factual or legal argument that would justify denying the simultaneous voter registration to which Mr. Stringer is legally entitled.”