Judicial Overreach Concerning North Carolina's Voter Id Law

The 9th and 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution clearly limits the power of the federal government and protects the rights of the states to govern themselves. The more power the federal government has the less freedom we have.

In July, the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit based in Virginia overturned North Carolina’s Voter ID Law. The law required a photo identification to vote, reduced early voting days and ended same day registration. All three judges on this panel were appointed by Democratic presidents.

The court incorrectly ruled that the law disproportionately affected minorities saying it violated the Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act and eliminated the voter identification requirement. Statistics show that the disenfranchisement of black voters did not occur. In fact, participation of black voters increased by almost 2 percent. In 2010 before the law was in place, 40.3 percent of blacks voted then after the law was in place for the 2014 midterms 42.2 percent of blacks voted. The court produced no evidence that there was any racial bias in any of the deliberations of the law. The plaintiffs could not produce a single person that was unable to obtain a ballot because of this law. The court unfairly ruled that the legislature was acting “with discriminatory intent.”

Thirty-four other states have voter ID laws in place which have been upheld by the Supreme Court. The court also added back a week of early voting even though a dozen states still do not have any type of early voting. The court also added back same day registration while the majority of states do not allow same day registration. Does this ruling mean that all of these states are violating the Constitution? The courts disregard of legal precedent, ignoring the 400 pages of facts from the district court, and ignoring the positive outcome for minority turnout after the law was implemented shows the court’s intent was not one of an independent arbiter but one of recklessly pushing a partisan agenda.

After the ruling, in a joint statement Speaker Tim Moore and Senate Leader Phil Berger said, “Since today’s decision by three partisan Democrats ignores legal precedent, ignores the fact that the other federal courts have used North Carolina’s law as a model, and ignores the fact that a majority of other states have similar protections in place, we can only wonder if the intent is to reopen the door for voter fraud, potentially allowing fellow Democrat politicians like Hillary Clinton and Roy Cooper to steal the election.”

Governor Pat McCrory stated the following, “Photo IDs are required to purchase Sudafed, cash a check, board an airplane or enter a federal court room. Yet, three Democratic judges are undermining the integrity of our elections while also maligning our state. We will immediately appeal and also review other potential options.”