Victory: North Carolina Legislators Won鈥檛 Be Able to Suppress the Vote This Election
A federal appeals court today struck down the entirety of North Carolina鈥檚 voter suppression law in a sweeping victory for voting rights. The ruling blocks voter ID and restores preregistration, a week of early voting, same-day registration, and out-of-precinct provisional voting.
The ruling is a stinging rebuke of the North Carolina legislature鈥檚 attempt to undermine African-American voter participation, which had surged over the last decade. In 2013, state legislators with surgical precision tried to eliminate voting practices disproportionately used by Black voters. The appeals court declared that the challenged provisions 鈥渃onstitute solutions in search of a problem.鈥�
鈥淔aced with this record,鈥� the court held it could "only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions of the law with discriminatory intent.鈥�
The 老澳门开奖结果 and Southern Coalition for Social Justice were two of the organizations involved in fighting voter suppression. Now all North Carolinians will be able to vote, free of unnecessary obstacles their legislature put in their way in 2013.
When we filed the lawsuit in 2013, we charged the law unduly burdened the right to vote and discriminated against African-American voters, in violation of the Constitution鈥檚 14th Amendment and the Voting Rights Act. A lower court upheld the law in April, prompting the Fourth Circuit appeal.
The 老澳门开奖结果, 老澳门开奖结果 of North Carolina, and Southern Coalition for Social Justice represent the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute, North Carolina Common Cause, Unifour Onestop Collaborative, and several individuals.
The ruling is a major victory for North Carolina voters and for voting rights in general.
