On Friday, a Federal Appeals Court reversed components of a North Carolina voting law from 2013. The law forced voters to show photo identification cards. The court found that the law was created "with racially discriminatory intent" which infringe upon the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act.
Lately, more and more court decisions against voter ID laws have been taking place. This is the third federal court decision on voter ID laws in this month alone. Earlier in July a court of appeals decided that Texas voter ID laws opposed the Voting Rights Act. In Wisconsin, the same thing occurred and federal judges made a few changes to the laws.
The victory for voters in North Carolina is not being celebrated by everyone. The governor of North Carolina, Pat McCrory, has stated that the state will appeal the decision as soon as possible. In a statement about the court's decision, McCrory said, "Photo IDs are required to purchase Sudafed, cash a check, board an airplane or enter a federal courtroom. Yet three Democratic judges are undermining the integrity of our elections while also maligning our state."
The judges in this appeal however seem to be re-establishing the integrity of voting practices in the state. The court saw that the North Carolina legislature started the provisions that basically discriminated against African Americans once they collected "data on the use, by race, of certain voting practices". In their opinion, the judges wrote, the provisions "target African Americans with almost surgical precision" and "impose cures for problems that did not exist."
Supporters of the decision like the NAACP and the Department of Justice believe the same thing. "They said the law would have an outsized impact on the state's African-American population, who they said are more likely to vote during early-voting periods and use same-day registration."
The good news is that the ruling on Friday will give voters a chance to register and vote on the same day as well as vote outside of their precinct with a provisional ballot.
Additionally, The American Civil Liberties Union saw this ruling as a victory. Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project stated, "This ruling is a stinging rebuke of the state's attempt to undermine African-American voter participation, which had surged over the last decade...It is a major victory for North Carolina voters and for voting rights."
As we continue to approach a critical election for our country in November it is so important that everyone is able to use their constitutional right to vote. It is terrifying to see the lengths some people and some elected officials will go to keep certain people from voting. Check out your states voter ID laws here!
