On Monday, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder upheld a sweeping North Carolina voter law, dismissing challenges by the Justice Department, the NAACP's North Carolina chapter, the League of Women Voters, and several named plaintiffs. North Carolina's law, passed by Republicans after the Supreme Court struck down parts of the Voting Rights Act in 2013, requires voters to show one of six forms of ID and does away with same-day voter registration, voting out of precinct, and a week of early voting, electoral tools that critics say black voters use disproportionately to cast their ballots in the recent swing state.
Judge Schroeder, a George W. Bush appointee, acknowledged that North Carolina has a history of "significant, shameful past discrimination" against black voters, but said that "in North Carolina's recent history, however, certainly for the last quarter century, there is little official discrimination to consider." The plaintiffs failed to show that the law "will have materially adverse effects on the ability of minority voters to cast a ballot and effectively exercise the electoral franchise." If neither the Fourth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals nor the Supreme Court steps in, the law will be enforced in the November election. Gov. Pat McCrory (R), who's running for re-election this fall, welcomed the ruling, while the NAACP vowed to appeal.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
'The disconnect between actual health care and the insurance model is widening'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Cautious optimism surrounds plans for the world's first nuclear fusion power plantTalking Point Some in the industry feel that the plant will face many challenges
-
Explore new worlds this winter at these 6 enlightening museum exhibitionsThe Week Recommends Discover the estrados of Spain and the connection between art and chess in various African countries
-
ABC News to pay $15M in Trump defamation suitSpeed Read The lawsuit stemmed from George Stephanopoulos' on-air assertion that Trump was found liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments lawSpeed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security lawSpeed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitutionspeed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidenceSpeed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulationsSpeed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriageSpeed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
