The Department of Justice sued the state of Texas on Thursday, alleging that the package of voting restrictions Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law in September violates federal law.

The Texas law violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 by restricting the ability of voters with disabilities to receive certain types of assistance at the polls, the department said . The state law also violates the Civil Rights Act of 1964 by requiring Texas election officials to reject absentee ballots based on minor paperwork errors that are immaterial to determining whether a voter is eligible to cast such a ballot.

Both provisions would unlawfully disenfranchise voters in what is already one of the nations most restrictive states, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said.

Our democracy depends on the right of eligible voters to cast a ballot and to have that ballot counted, Garland said in a news release announcing the lawsuit. The Justice Department will continue to use all the authorities at its disposal to protect this fundamental pillar of our society.

Texas Republican-majority legislature passed the voting restrictions in late August after months of wrangling and over opposition from Democratic legislators, voting rights groups and disability advocates. The law, which bans drive-thru voting access and imposes new restrictions on absentee ballots, made Texas one of 19 states that have passed at least 33 laws restricting voting rights this year.

The Justice Department took particular issue with the laws provisions limiting the types of assistance voters can receive when filling out and returning ballots, which opponents of the legislation warned would make it harder for Texans with disabilities to vote.

Those provisions, Garland and the Justice Department argued, would also have a disproportionate effect on elderly voters and Texans with limited English proficiency two groups that, like people with disabilities, already often face significant barriers to voting.