The New York Times reports:

The Justice Department on Thursday sued Texas over the state’s new voting law, arguing that the Republican-passed measure would disenfranchise Texans who do not speak English, who have disabilities, who are older or who live outside the United States.

The Texas voting restrictions, signed into law in September, include measures barring election officials from sending voters unsolicited absentee ballot applications and from promoting the use of vote by mail, as well as further limiting the use of drop boxes.

The Justice Department’s lawsuit appears to focus on those restrictions governing what types of help poll workers can offer voters, including translation and other assistance. The law creates new civil and criminal penalties for poll workers who run afoul of the rules.

“These vulnerable voters already confront barriers to the ballot box, and S.B. 1 will exacerbate the challenges they face in exercising their fundamental right to vote,” the Justice Department wrote in its lawsuit, referring to the Texas voting bill. [Continue reading…]