N. Carolina voter ID still void after Supreme Court ruling
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — A 2018 law requiring photo identification to vote in North Carolina remains invalidated after a narrow majority on the state Supreme Court agreed Friday with a lower court decision that struck it down.
In a 4-3 decision, the court’s Democratic justices said they saw no reason to disturb the 2021 ruling that voided the photo ID law. The lower court said the law violated the equal protection clause of the state constitution because it was tainted by racial bias and designed to help Republicans retain their grip on the General Assembly.
“We hold that the three-judge panel’s findings of fact are supported by competent evidence showing that the statute was motivated by a racially discriminatory purpose,” Associate Justice Anita Earls wrote in the majority opinion. “The provisions enacted ... were formulated with an impermissible intent to discriminate against African American voters in violation of the North Carolina Constitution.”
One Republican legislative leader said later Friday that he would try to pass another voter ID law next year, when the Supreme Court will flip to a 5-2 Republican majority following judicial elections last month.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/n-carolina-voter-id-still-195731657.html