A federal judge has upheld North Carolina’s sweeping voter ID law in a ruling posted late Monday evening.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder issued a sprawling 485-page ruling dismissing all claims in the challenge to the state’s sweeping 2013 election law overhaul. Schroeder, a George W. Bush appointee, also upheld portions of the 2013 law that cut the number of days people could vote early, eliminated same-day registration and voting and prohibits people from casting a ballot outside their precinct. Schroeder left same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional voting in effect for North Carolina’s upcoming June 7 Primary.
Democracy North Carolina just released a report on Friday about how valuable same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting were as back-up provisions that saved more than 29,000 voters in the March 2016 primary.
Statement from Bob Hall, Democracy North Carolina
US District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder ruled as we expected: he sees no problem with the sweeping rewrite of North Carolina’s election law by Republican legislators and Gov. Pat McCrory. In one section that reflects a myopic view of evidence, he concludes, “There is significant, shameful past discrimination. In North Carolina’s recent history, however, certainly for the last quarter century, there is little official discrimination to consider.”
Hopefully, other judges will take off the rose-colored glasses and look at the facts and law with more care.
Judge Schroeder acknowledges that African Americans in NC disproportionately lack a photo ID and benefit from key provisions that help voters, such as same-day registration; but he concludes that the plaintiffs “failed to show that such disparities will have materially adverse effects on the ability of minority voters to cast a ballot.”
He says the ID requirement is no problem because the state allows voters to use a provisional ballot and complete an affidavit about why they don’t have an acceptable ID. With his rosy vision and without reviewing evidence from the March primary, he concludes, “In sum, plaintiffs have failed to show that any North Carolinian who wishes to vote faces anything other than the ‘usual burdens of voting.’”
Schroeder’s decision ignores the reality that over 1,000 voters who lacked an acceptable ID took the trouble to fill out forms at polling sites in the March primary but were silenced; their ballots were rejected, often for trivial and inconsistent reasons, depending on where they voted and the wording they used to explain their lack of ID. On the other hand, a new Democracy North Carolina analysis of the March primary reveals that more than 29,000 voters were saved and their ballots counted because an injunction preserved two backup provisions that Schroeder now says can be eliminated: same-day registration during early voting and out-of-precinct voting on Election Day – see http://democracyncarchive.org/29000-nc-voters-saved-by-provisions-in-election-law-that-legislators-aim-to-kill/
Real voters are already being harmed by the Monster Law that Judge Schroeder upholds. And even more will suffer when the full force of his ruling becomes effective. The ruling undermines the integrity of the voting process in North Carolina and reflects a deep lack of interest in preserving elections that are fair, accessible and secure.
Plaintiffs are expected to appeal the April 25th ruling, which could have a major impact on North Carolina’s November General Election.
Leave A Comment