Last Friday's ruling by the state Supreme Court questioning the legality of the state’s constitutional voter ID amendment pits a few “liberal justices” against the will of the people and their representatives in the state legislature, says Lisa Dixon, executive director of the Lawyers Democracy Fund, a public interest law firm specializing in election law.
“This is the latest attempt by activists to undermine election integrity by attacking legitimate and important election safeguards, namely meaningful and commonsense voter ID requirements,” Dixon told Old North News.
In the Aug. 19 ruling, NC NAACP v. Moore, et al., the court said that the state’s voter ID amendment is likely invalid because it was approved for the ballot by lawmakers who were elected from districts with discriminatory electoral maps. The voters approved the amendment in 2018 by an 11 point margin.
In the Aug. 19 ruling, NC NAACP v. Moore, et al., the North Carolina Supreme Court said that the state’s voter ID amendment is likely invalid.
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The case now returns to the trial court for more evidence gathering.
“The lower court judge set to hear the case, Judge Bryan Collins, previously struck down the amendment before it reached the North Carolina Supreme Court on appeal,” Dixon said. “It’s clear that the Supreme Court’s decision paves the way for Judge Collins to try and gut the widely supported voter ID amendment to safeguard elections in North Carolina.”
In late June, North Carolina voters were victorious on the U.S. Supreme Court level in the Berger v. NC State Conference of the NAACP ruling, which gave Senate President Philip Berger and House Speaker Rep. Timothy Moore the right to intervene in a voter ID case. The legislative leaders had questioned North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein’s commitment to defending it. Stein is a Democrat.
In the NAACP v. Moore case, Dixon said that the lower court decision could be appealed just like any other court decision.
“The parties may choose not to appeal, of course, but I would anticipate that the new decision, regardless of the outcome, will be appealed back to the NC Supreme Court, given the controversial nature of the voter ID litigation,” she said.
Polls have shown that voters strongly support voter ID laws.
A 2021 poll by the Honest Elections Project showed that 81% of voters asked support voter ID. Another 2021 poll by Franklin & Marshall College showed 74% of Pennsylvania voters who responded to the survey support voter ID.
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