North Carolina’s legislature passed the voting law weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court voted 5 to 4 in June 2013 to eliminate a requirement that states with a history of discrimination, including North Carolina, receive federal approval before changing election laws.
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As for the state of North Carolina, lawmakers and supporters have expressed their disapproval of the court’s decision.
“We are beyond happy that the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals exposed for the world to see the racist intent of the extremist element of our government in North Carolina”, said Reverend William Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, “The ruling is a people’s victory, and it is a victory that sends a message to the nation”.
The ruling could have a big effect on the outcome of the presidential election. North Carolina is considered a state that is up for grabs. “It’s a powerful precedent that … federal courts will protect voting rights of voters of color”, Riggs said.
Only a week after an appeals court struck down Texas’ voter ID laws, a federal appeals court has now struck down North Carolina’s voting restrictions.
This photo taken March 15, 2016, shows a NC Voter ID rules posted at the door of the voting station at the Alamance Fire Station in Greensboro, N.C.
Dale Ho, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Projects, questions a witness during a court hearing on whether Kansas must count potentially thousands of votes in state and local races from people who’ve registered without providing proof of their USA citizenship, Friday, July 29, 2016, in Topeka, Kan.
The decision (pdf) argued that a prior ruling by a federal judge “missed the forest in carefully surveying the many trees”.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections is doing its part to inform voters. Among other things, this law would have prohibited the use of university student IDs as valid identification for voting. “And eliminated or reduced registration and voting access tools that African-Americans disproportionately used”.
In particular, the court found that North Carolina lawmakers requested data on racial differences in voting behaviors in the state. The ruling also could boost the votes at play this fall, Hasen said. The U.S. Justice Department, state NAACP and League of Women Voters were among those who sued over the restrictions. “We will immediately appeal and also review other potential options”.
“You can talk about voter fraud, but the reality is as it’s been described, (the law is) a solution in search of a problem – because it’s virtually nonexistent”, Shaw said.
The State then elaborated on its justification, explaining that “c$3 ounties with Sunday voting in 2014 were disproportionately black” and “disproportionately Democratic”, the decision reads.
The provision requiring identification, the court said, is too broad and seemingly unrelated to the goal of combating fraud.
The 2013 voter ID law in North Carolina delayed its implementation until 2016, giving anyone three years to get a free ID. But now, with the Republican-led U.S. Senate refusing to fill the vacant seat that was Antonin Scalia’s, Republicans are faced with a 4-4 court that likely won’t provide relief, at least before November.
Absent alternative guidance from the courts, voters will not be asked to show photo identification this election. It’s why nine months after the first ballots were cast, we still don’t have a mayor in Pembroke.
In April, a lower-court judge rejected the argument of opponents that the legislature had intentionally discriminated against minority voters and that large numbers would be disenfranchised by the changes to the voting system.
North Carolina, Wisconsin and Kansas all saw state laws affecting voters nullified or limited by courts. The judge asserted Schroeder had ample evidence to prove the law was biased, but never put two and two together.
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However, Republican leaders suggested that the decision was made in order to give Democrats a better hold on the swing state, where Hillary Clinton has been polling much better with African-Americans than Donald Trump has.
