WASHINGTON (AP) - A federal court has ruled against a Texas law that would require voters to present photo IDs to election officials before being allowed to cast ballots in November.

A three-judge panel in Washington ruled Thursday that the law imposes "strict, unforgiving burdens on the poor" and noted that racial minorities in Texas are more likely to live in poverty.

The decision involves an increasingly contentious political issue: a push, largely by Republican-controlled legislatures and governor's offices, to impose strict identification requirements on voters.

Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott says the state will appeal the rejection of its voter ID law to the U.S. Supreme Court and is confident of prevailing.

Abbott said the ruling Thursday was "wrong on the law" and stops Texas from using the same Election Day measures being used in Georgia and Indiana.

It's the second defeat for state GOP leaders this week after another panel threw out the state's redistricting maps, having found them discriminatory.

Abbott says the state will also appeal that decision.

The ruling comes in the same week that South Carolina's strict photo ID law is on trial in front of another three-judge panel in the same federal courthouse.

A court ruling in the South Carolina case is expected in time for the November election.