Nelva Gonzales Ramos, Federal Judge Blocks Trump-Backed Voter ID Law In Texas

A federal judge in Texas, Nelva Gonzales Ramos, on Wednesday tossed out the new version of the state’s voter ID law, backed by the Trump administration, over discrimination.

Ramos rejected the changes in the new version, signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott in January, that allowed voters having gun licenses to cast their vote. But college student IDs could not be used to exercise the franchise. The changes in the new version also permitted people lacking a required ID to cast their ballot if they signed an affidavit and provided paperwork to show their name and address, such as a utility bill or a bank statement, according to the Associated Press.

Texas first passed the voter ID law in 2011. The 2011 law was blocked by Ramos in 2014, and she called it discriminatory against Black and Latino voters. In June, the state adopted a modification of the 2011 law, called Senate Bill 5, which was meant to serve as a remedy.

In a 27-page ruling Wednesday, Ramos said the revised version of the law did not fix the discriminatory aspects. SB 5 stated both U.S. passport books and cards would be accepted as identification proofs, but that did not convince Ramos. "This feature remains discriminatory because SB 5 perpetuates the selection of types of ID most likely to be possessed by Anglo voters and, disproportionately, not possessed by Hispanics and African-Americans," she wrote in her ruling.

Ramos, who was nominated by former President Barack Obama in January 2011, serves as an article III federal judge for the United States District Court for the Southern District of Texas. Her Wednesday ruling was called "outrageous" by Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton from Texas. He suggested an appeals court should void the ruling made by the federal judge.

"The U.S. Department of Justice is satisfied that the amended voter ID law has no discriminatory purpose or effect. Safeguarding the integrity of elections in Texas is essential to preserving our democracy," Paxton said in a statement, Fox News reported.

Ramos replaced retired Hayden Head in January 2011. She completed her bachelor's degree from Southwest Texas State University in 1987 and received her Juris Doctor program from the University of Texas School of Law in 1991, according to Ballotpedia.org, an online political encyclopedia.

Ramos was confirmed by a Senate voice vote on Aug. 20, 2011, following which on Aug. 4, she was officially sworn in at the federal courthouse in Corpus Christi, Texas, after it was confirmed that Obama had signed the paperwork.

Between 2001 and 2011, Ramos served as a judge at the Texas 347th Judicial District. She also practiced as an attorney in private in Corpus Christi from 1999 to 2000, according to her bio on the Federal Judicial Center website.

Voting rights groups in Texas praised Ramos for her Wednesday ruling. "Time and time again, federal courts have made it clear that Texas’s strict voter photo ID law is discriminatory," Danielle Lang, senior counsel for Campaign Legal Center, which represented the Texas plaintiffs, said in a statement.

"It doesn’t matter how many times the state tries to dress the law in sheep’s clothing ― its intent is to discriminate and prevent hundreds of thousands of eligible voters from casting ballots. Now, Texas must return to nondiscriminatory ID practices in voting, which do not require photo ID," Lang noted, according to the Huffington Post.