Texas urged [response, PDF] the Supreme Court [official website] on Monday to alllow it’s voter ID laws to remain in effect while under review by a federal appeals court. The Court is considering a plea [JURIST report] by a group in Veasey v. Abbott [SCOTUS docket] to block enforcement of the law while the case is being heard in the federal appeals court. The concern [SCOTUSblog materials] is the law will remain in effect during November’s general election. The law, which has been in effect since 2011, has constantly come under scrutiny and challenge. The Supreme Court last ruled on the matter in October 2014 when they refused 6-3 from preventing the law’s enforcement while lower courts studied it. It would take 5 of the current 8 justices to put the law on hold. The state in their reply, holds that over 95% of eligible voters already have a valid form of ID and that none of the individuals seeking help in this matter lacks proper Identification.

Voting rights have been a contentious issue in the US recently. Earlier this month an Ohio judge granted an emergency order [JURIST report] allowing 17-year-olds who will turn 18 by the November election to vote in the recent Ohio primary. Also this month the Fifth Circuit agreed to reconsider [JURIST report] Texas’ voter ID law before the entire court. Last May the New Hampshire Supreme Court struck down [JURIST report] a 2012 law requiring voters to be state residents, not just domiciled in the state. Last March Oregon Governor Kate Brown signed a new law [JURIST report] that made Oregon the first state in the nation to institute automatic voter registration. In November 2014 a federal appeals court rejected [JURIST report] a Kansas rule that required prospective voters to show proof-of-citizenship documents before registering using a federal voter registration form.