Texas voter ID law struck down by federal court

A federal court struck down a Texas law on Thursday that would have required voters to present photo IDs before casting their ballots in the November elections, according to the Associated Press.

The three-judge panel in Washington, DC, said the law's burden would "fall most heavily on the poor and that a disproportionately high percentage of African-Americans and Hispanics in Texas live in poverty," according to Reuters.

Judge David S. Tatel said the evidence submitted by Texas to prove that the law was not discriminatory was "unpersuasive, invalid, or both," according to The Washington Post.

The panel's ruling suggested that the law would have an unconstitutional impact on minorities' and the poor's right to vote. The law was passed by a Republican-dominated Texas legislature in 2011, Reuters reported.

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Texas Attorney General Gregg Abbott said the state will appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court, stating, "Today’s decision is wrong on the law and improperly prevents Texas from implementing the same type of ballot integrity safeguards that are employed by Georgia and Indiana — and were upheld by the Supreme Court," according to The Post.

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CBS News noted that this is the third court ruling in three days with federal courts striking down Republican voter laws. Earlier this week, another federal panel of judges threw out Texas' redistricting plans on the grounds that they undermined the political power of minorities, The Post reported.

On Wednesday, another federal panel blocked a registration measure in Florida, CBS News said. Another three-judge panel is set to rule on South Carolina's strict photo ID law in the same federal courthouse.