North Carolina NAACP president, Rev. William Barber, center at podium gestures as he is surrounded by supporters during a news conference at the Third Street Bethel AME Church in Richmond, Va., Tuesday, June 21, 2016.
Steve Helber / AP
WASHINGTON — A federal appeals court struck down several voting restrictions passed by North Carolina's lawmakers in 2013, finding that the provisions were enacted with "discriminatory intent" in violation of the Voting Rights Act.
Among the provisions in the law were limits on the type of photo ID required for voting; reductions to the amount of early voting in the state; and elimination of same-day registration, out-of-precinct provisional voting, and preregistration that allowed 16- and 17-year-olds to indicate an intent to register when they turned 18.
The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals held that "the new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision," with the effect of taking away their "opportunity [to vote] because [they] were about to exercise it."
In particular, the court looked to the fact that "the legislature requested and received racial data as to usage of the practices changed by the proposed law" before passing the law.
Looking at the facts underlying the enactment of the law, Judge Diana Motz wrote for the court, "[W]e can only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions of the law with discriminatory intent."
Read the opinion:
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