A federal appeals court has overturned North Carolina’s sweeping voter ID law, ruling that the law was passed with “discriminatory intent” and was created to impose barriers to block African-Americans from voting.
Advertisement
This April, a federal judge ruled that the law served a “legitimate state interest” and concluded there was not sufficient evidence of discriminatory intent.
Plaintiffs had argued the changes discourage voting by black and Hispanic residents, who use early voting or same-day registration more than white voters and are more likely to lack photo ID.
“Although the new provisions target African Americans with nearly surgical precision, they constitute inapt remedies for the problems assertedly justifying them and, in fact, impose cures for problems that did not exist”, the opinion states. And a district court softened Wisconsin’s ID law, too, though that decision is being appealed. “It is my hope that the State of North Carolina will embrace this decision instead of pursuing costly appeals”.
“But the totality of the circumstances – North Carolina’s history of voting discrimination; the surge in African American voting; the legislature’s knowledge that African Americans voting translated into support for one party; and the swift elimination of the tools African Americans had used to vote and imposition of a new barrier at the first opportunity to do so – cumulatively and unmistakably reveal that the General Assembly used [the 2013 law] to entrench itself”.
The appeals court also dismissed arguments by Republican lawmakers that the law was aimed at preventing voter fraud.
North Carolina legislative leaders Senate leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore, both Republicans, issued a statement that they would appeal the ruling to the U.S. Supreme Court and blasted the judges as “three partisan Democrats”.
Civil rights activists challenged a voter identification law drafted in 2013, which they said have the potential to disenfranchise countless people.
The same three-judge panel – Judges Wynn, Floyd and Diana Gribbon Motz – had earlier ordered the state to keep same-day voter registration and out-of-precinct voting in effect as the case made its way through the courts. And North Carolina will go back to being a state that encourages rather than obstructs voting. Yet, three Democratic judges are undermining the integrity of our elections while also maligning our state. The Rev. Dr. William Barber, president of the NC NAACP said, “We as you might imagine are beyond happy today that the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals decision exposed for the world to see under the light of our constitution the racist intent of extremist elements in North Carolina”.
Challengers of the elections law overhaul shepherded through the Republican-led General Assembly in 2013 and signed into law by Gov. Pat McCrory quickly lauded the ruling.
North Carolina is considered a key battleground state that could determine the outcome of the presidential election in November.
The voter ID mandate, which took effect in March, required people casting ballots in person to show one of six qualifying IDs, although voters facing “reasonable impediments” could fill out a form and cast a provisional ballot. A district court earlier this year upheld the law.
“With surgical precision, North Carolina tried to eliminate voting practices disproportionately used by African-Americans”.
Advertisement
“We recognize that elections have consequences”, the court said, “but winning an election does not empower anyone in any party to engage in purposeful racial discrimination”.
