SCOTUS overturns N.C. voter ID law for now

The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay — or delay — a ruling by the 4^th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that overturned the state’s voter ID law. The justices’ action means there will be no voter ID requirement for the Nov. 8 election. The appeals court also overturned four other provisions of a broad 2013 election reform law — shortening the early voting period from 17 days to 10 days, eliminating same-day voter registration during early voting, eliminating out-of-precinct voting, and allowing teenagers to preregister before they turn 18.

The order denying the delay showed that the nation’s highest court was split 4-4 in its opinion. The order said that Chief Justice John Roberts and Justices Anthony Kennedy and Samuel Alito would have granted the stay, except for the preregistration provision. Justice Clarence Thomas would have granted the stay in its entirety.

The four justices appointed by Democratic presidents — Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor, and Elena Kagan — opposed the delay until the Supreme Court could consider the matter. The court’s fall term opens in October, and its first opinions typically are issued in December or January.

The late Justice Antonin Scalia, a conservative who died earlier this year, would have cast the deciding vote had he lived.

The General Assembly’s top leaders, House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, and Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, said they were disappointed with the decision.

“We respect the court, but are disappointed North Carolina will not be among the more than 30 other states with commonsense voter ID in place for the upcoming election,” Berger and Moore said in a joint statement.

The American Civil Liberties Union, one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuits challenging the law, lauded Wednesday’s Supreme Court action.

“The Supreme Court was correct to deny North Carolina’s last-ditch effort to undermine African-American voter participation in the November election,” said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s voting rights project. “This ruling means that thousands of voters who would have been disenfranchised will now be able to participate in the presidential election.”

Earlier this year, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder ruled for the state, saying the 2013 law passed constitutional muster. However, in July the 4^th Circuit overturned Schroeder’s order.