I had a Twitter exchange with Ron Christie yesterday about Voter I.D. laws, and, as you can see here, a few others jumped in:

Wasn’t that special? He’s apparently paid to be just as unreasonable on Twitter as he is on the Tee Vee machine.

But here’s the good news, via The Hill, and I hope Ronnie laps this up the way Rush laps up Oxycontin:

The Justice Department moved Monday to block Texas’s new law that requires voters to display government-issued photo identification while voting, arguing the legislation disproportionately harms Hispanic voters… [T]he Obama administration argued in a letter to the Texas Secretary of State that there wasn’t evidence of pervasive voter fraud under the state’s existing laws. [...]

Instead, the Obama administration argued that the legislation was designed to make voting harder for minorities and the poor, who are least likely to hold a government-issued ID.

“Even using the data most favorable to the state, Hispanics disproportionately lack either a driver’s license or a personal identification card issued by DPS, and that disparity is statistically significant,” Perez writes. [...]

Republicans plan to challenge the Justice Department’s ruling in federal court, arguing that the legislation contains specific exemptions for the elderly, poor, and those who held religious objections to being photographed. Under the law, the state would provide free voter ID cards for those unable to afford driver’s licenses or state ID cards.

Democrats counter the GOP argument, saying that in order to receive free voter identification cards, original copies of birth certificates would be required, or other documents that would cost money and take a lot of time and effort to get.

In other words, some voters would have to pay money they may not have, and jump through inconvenient and time-consuming hoops, in order to vote.

South Carolina’s law was blocked, but eight states have passed voter ID laws just in the past year. Those hit hardest are usually low income voters, the elderly, the ill who can’t leave home, young voters, minorities, and of course, anyone without transportation (or to put it another way, lean Democratic). And to those who say, “Well, there are always absentee ballots,” some states are now requiring Voter I.D. to qualify for those, too.

But according to Ron Christie, race has nothing to do with it, because after all, HE had to show identification and had no problem at all, because he’s, you know, your typical voter.

UPDATE: A Dane County, Wisconsin judge has granted permanent injunction against a voter ID law. This is the second judge to block the Voter ID law, on two separate legal issues. Judge Niess’ ruling says that lawmakers did not have constitutional authority to add another qualification to vote.

Per John Nichols: WI Judge’s remarkable decision declares extreme VOTER ID law “sows the seeds for (state government’s) demise as a democratic institution.”

Here is the .pdf of the decision.