Judge refuses to dismiss Voter ID lawsuit

Published October 24, 2015

by Associated Press, published on WRAL.com, October 23, 2015.

A federal judge refused Friday to dismiss portions of lawsuits challenging North Carolina's upcoming voter identification requirement and told lawyers to prepare for a trial early next year.

U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Schroeder denied the motion from attorneys for the state during a court hearing in Winston-Salem. The state had said the voter ID claims filed in 2013 by civil rights groups, voters and the U.S. Justice Department are moot because the legislature last summer eased the photo identification requirement that begins in 2016.

The plaintiffs argued the modified voter ID mandate still threatens to burden black and Hispanic voters who are less likely than others to have qualifying IDs, and that the 2013 law hasn't been fully repealed. They say the amended law still violates the U.S. Constitution and Voting Rights Act.

Photo ID is supposed to begin with the March 15 primary.

The 2013 law approved by the Republican-controlled General Assembly says people who want to vote in person must show one of six qualifying forms of photo identification. But amendments approved by lawmakers and signed by Gov. Pat McCrory in June allow people with a "reasonable impediment" to obtaining ID to have their ballots count if they fill out a form and present other identification and personal information.

Schroeder indicated a January trial was likely and directed the two sides to agree upon a pretrial schedule in 10 days. The plaintiffs also were permitted to amend their complaint to reflect the updated law.

"Even with the much touted amendments to the law, voters of color will continue to be disproportionately burdened," plaintiffs' attorney Daniel Donovan said in a release. "Elections should be free, fair and accessible to all, and we look forward to arguing these and other points during trial next year."

Through a spokeswoman, the state Department of Justice declined comment.

The judge hasn't yet ruled after a trial wrapped up in late July on portions of the lawsuits that challenge other provisions in the 2013 law. Those included a reduction in the number of early-voting days from 17 to 10, the elimination of same-day registration during the early-voting period and a ban on counting of Election Day ballots cast in the wrong precinct. Schroeder did not say Friday when he would release his ruling on that portion of the case.

The early-voting and out-of-precinct voting restrictions were implemented in 2014.

A separate lawsuit in state court challenges the voter ID requirement, based on alleged violations of the North Carolina Constitution. A Superior Court judge last month declined a state motion to toss out the lawsuit based on the argument that earlier problems cited by those who sued no longer exist.

Judge Michael Morgan also put on hold the legal proceedings in that case until after the primary. The attorneys who sued said the delay would strike the right balance to see how state election officials would carry out the voter ID mandate with the "reasonable impediment" standard.