The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit struck down North Carolina’s voter ID law in a ruling released on Friday.  The ruling strikes down a previous ruling from a federal district court.  A three-judge panel issued the ruling.

The ruling blocks voter ID requirements.  It also restores preregistration for teenagers, a week of early voting, same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional voting.  This includes the general election in November 2016.

WCHL’s Blake Hodge and Aaron Keck broke down the ruling on Friday afternoon.

 

The State of North Carolina could request that the case be ruled “en banc” (by larger group of judges on the circuit) or they could appeal to the United States Supreme Court.

The court wrote a strongly worded rebuke of the law:

“Before enacting that law, the legislature requested data on the use, by race, of a number of voting practices. Upon receipt of the race data, the General Assembly enacted legislation that restricted voting and registration in five different ways, all of which disproportionately affected African Americans.”

Continued:

“Although the new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision, they constitute inapt remedies for the problems assertedly justifying them and, in fact, impose cures for problems that did not exist.  Thus the asserted justifications cannot and do not conceal the State’s true motivation.”

The court continues:

“We can only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions of the law with discriminatory intent.  Accordingly, we reverse the judgment of the district court to the contrary and remand with instructions to enjoin the challenged provisions of the law.”

More:

“We recognize that elections have consequences, but winning an election does not empower anyone in any party to engage in purposeful racial discrimination. When a legislature dominated by one party has dismantled barriers to African American access to the franchise, even if done to gain votes, ‘politics as usual’ does not allow a legislature dominated by the other party to re-erect those barriers.”

The voter ID law was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed by Governor Pat McCrory in 2013.

Read the court’s full decision.

In a statement, Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said:

“With surgical precision, North Carolina tried to eliminate voting practices disproportionately used by African-Americans. 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.”

Southern Coalition for Social Justice senior attorney Allison Riggs adds:

“We applaud the appeals court for recognizing the discriminatory intent behind and effect wrought by the 2013 monster law. Because of this ruling, North Carolinians will now be able to register and vote free of the obstacles created by the Legislature in 2013.”

North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory released the following statement on the ruling:

“Photo IDs are required to purchase sudafed, cash a check, board an airplane or enter a federal court room. Yet, three Democratic judges are undermining the integrity of our elections while also maligning our state. We will immediately appeal and also review other potential options.”

Joint statement from Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore:

“Since today’s decision by three partisan Democrats ignores legal precedent, ignores the fact that other federal courts have used North Carolina’s law as a model, and ignores the fact that a majority of other states have similar protections in place, we can only wonder if the intent is to reopen the door for voter fraud, potentially allowing fellow Democrat politicians like Hillary Clinton and Roy Cooper to steal the election. We will obviously be appealing this politically-motivated decision to the Supreme Court.”

North Carolina NAACP President Reverend William Barber released this statement:

“We are happy today that the 4th Circuit’s Court of Appeals’ decision exposed the racist intent of the extremist element of our government in North Carolina. In 2013, this government took our voting system — which was a model for the nation in encouraging people to vote, not discouraging them — and they made it into the worst voter suppression act in the country. Today the 4th Circuit’s decision gives North Carolinians back an electoral system that allows the people of North Carolina to vote freely this fall.”

Civitas President Francis De Luca said:

“North Carolina’s common-sense voter ID law was passed to preserve the security and integrity of our elections process. North Carolina’s voters deserve the confidence that their votes will not be diluted by fraud. Just before a crucial presidential election, the liberal judges of the Fourth Circuit are once again legislating from the bench and seem to be looking for opportunities to overturn North Carolina law at every turn. The continual overreach of the courts like the Fourth Circuit undermines the belief in self-government through elected representatives and our democratic republic.  It is simply outrageous that the court cites race as a reason for overturning North Carolina’s voter ID law. No one has been able to point to a single example of a voter being disenfranchised as a result of this law. In fact, voter turnout has increased since the law was enacted.”

The ACLU, Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and the North Carolina NAACP were plaintiffs in the case.