Richard Wolf

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court refused Friday to block Texas' photo ID law, the strictest in the nation, from remaining in effect for now, but it left open the possibility of doing so this summer if a lower court challenge remains unresolved.

Civil rights groups who say the law discriminates against black and Hispanic voters had argued that it should be blocked because it was struck down by a federal court in 2014 and a three-judge appeals court panel last year. The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit will hear the case next month.

The justices said they would reconsider their decision on or after July 20 if the appeals court has not decided the case by then. That would give state election officials more than three months to prepare voters for the November elections.

"The court recognizes the time constraints the parties confront in light of the scheduled elections in November 2016," the one-paragraph order stated.

The law's challengers cheered the action, even though it didn't give them everything they sought. “We’re very encouraged that the U.S. Supreme Court recognizes the time constraints involved in this case,” said Gerry Hebert, executive director of the Campaign Legal Center.

It was the second time the high court had refused to block the photo ID law. In October 2014, the justices allowed Texas to enforce it in its pending November elections. That order was not signed, but Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg filed a blistering six-page dissent, joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan.

"The greatest threat to public confidence in elections in this case is the prospect of enforcing a purposefully discriminatory law, one that likely imposes an unconstitutional poll tax and risks denying the right to vote to hundreds of thousands of eligible voters," Ginsburg said at the time.

Supreme Court rules Texas can enforce voter ID law

The law is the strictest in the nation, permitting only certain types of photo ID at the polls. Gun licenses are included; college IDs are not. It was enacted to cut down on in-person voter fraud, but critics said only two people were convicted of impersonating others at the polls during a recent 10-year period.

A federal district judge in Corpus Christi originally struck down the law in 2014 after a two-week trial. Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos ruled it was passed by the Texas state Legislature in 2011 with a "discriminatory purpose" and could disenfranchise about 600,000 voters, a disproportionate number of whom are black or Hispanic.

Days later, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit blocked Ramos' order from taking effect while the state appealed, and the Supreme Court upheld that ruling. As a result, the photo ID requirement has been used in state and local elections despite the continuing court challenge.

A federal appeals court panel agreed last August that the law was discriminatory but urged the two sides to come up with a compromise plan. Then last month, the full appeals court decided to rehear the case, now scheduled for May.

Civil rights groups had asked the Supreme Court to stop the law from being implemented in the meantime, out of concern that preparations for the November elections might be too advanced to change the rules without sowing confusion among voters.

"Waiting those several months could be fatal," opponents argued in their brief to the high court. "Texas voters should not be forced to forfeit their right to vote in yet another election."

Texas had urged the justices to let the law stand during the appeals process. Solicitor General Scott Keller noted that the appeals court's three-judge panel, while striking down the law as discriminatory, also ruled that it was not passed with that intent and did not constitute a poll tax.

"Voter-ID laws are legitimate means to combat election fraud and safeguard voter confidence," Keller argued.

The Texas law originally was blocked by federal officials shortly after taking effect in 2011, under a section of the Voting Rights Act requiring mostly Southern states to clear proposed voting changes with the federal government. The Supreme Court struck down that requirement in June 2013, freeing state officials to reinstate the law.

Supreme Court strikes down key part of Voting Rights Act