Holder wants Texas to get federal OK for voting changes

The Justice Department is seeking to require Texas to get federal permission before changing its voting rules, U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. said. Holder said Thursday the Department of Justice plans to petition a court later in the day to require Texas to get pre-clearance before making voting changes for the next 10 years, The New York Times reported. Holder's comments come after several southern states, including Texas, have rushed to change their voting rules following the U.S. Supreme Court's decision in the Shelby County v. Holder case last month, in which the court struck down a portion of the Voting Rights Act that required southern states to get federal permission for making such changes. "This is the department's first action to protect voting rights following the Shelby County decision, but it will not be our last," Holder said. "Even as Congress considers updates to the Voting Rights Act in light of the court's ruling, we plan, in the meantime, to fully utilize the law's remaining sections to subject states to pre-clearance as necessary. My colleagues and I are determined to use every tool at our disposal to stand against such discrimination wherever it is found."