At the end of April, United States District Judge Thomas Schroeder ruled that North Carolina’s voter ID law will remain a part of the law and continue on for subsequent elections. This law, passed in 2013, gets rid of same-day registration voting, says that voters must provide a photo-ID in order to vote at the precinct, and eliminates out-of-precinct voting.
Proponents of this bill say that it helps curb voting fraud and is a positive for the state of North Carolina. Detractors, mainly Democrats, say that this voter law will keep minorities from voting at higher rates and should be seen as discriminatory.
Judge Schroeder’s April decision overruled a suit filed by the North Carolina NAACP chapter and the United States Department of Justice, which claimed this law was unconstitutional and was unfairly targeting minority groups. Since that overrule, North Carolina’s NAACP chapter has filed another suit which will be give its day in court on June 21, 2016.
Political leaders across both sides of the aisle are very despondent about the attention being given to North Carolina concerning these voter ID lawsuits.
Republicans feel that there is simply not enough empirical data that show minority voters being negatively affected. Judge Schroeder was quoted as saying that, “there was no clear evidence of disenfranchisement from this legislation,” although he did concede that North Carolina has a discriminatory past that could not be brushed under the rug.
Democrats feel that these type of discriminatory laws and practices are giving the American people a negative outlook on the state of North Carolina and are sending the wrong message to states looking to enact similar laws.
Republicans are also claiming that North Carolina’s voter ID laws are surprisingly liberal compared to the twenty-two states across the country who have voter laws on the books. They say that if a person does not have an ID to vote, they can vote absentee and then their vote will be counted.
However, Democrats and members of the North Carolina Legislature are concerned that these laws are negatively attacking poorer minorities and college students who either don’t have proper registration, have little or no access to transportation, or are living in a place that is far away from their registered polling center.
Although some may be uncomfortable with “outsiders” voting in North Carolina, because they have little interest in local political elections, proponents of overturning the voter ID laws say that these stricter laws will negatively affect the amount of college students who are eligible or even willing to take the time to vote.
Defense Attorney Koria Stanton commented, “If the higher courts do not get involved and the voting requirements stay the same and become in effect in the fall, it could have a huge impact on the November presidential election. Requiring a photo ID to vote disproportionately affects minorities, and individuals who have not registered at least 45 days in advance will not have the opportunity to vote.
The basis of these laws appear to be decent at first glance, but when you take into account the number of minorities and members of the lower-income electorate who claim to be negatively affected, it seems that a recalibration is needed in order to both encourage voter turn-out, and have clear-and-concise voter registration practices.
