(The Center Square) – Precedent setting cases at the U.S. Supreme Court and the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals guided a federal judge to upholding North Carolina’s photo identification voter requirement Thursday.
North Carolina voters approved voter identification at the polls in 2018 through a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. In those midterms, 55.49% of nearly 3.7 million votes were in favor.
Justice Loretta Biggs, she of a 2020 ruling that continued to delay the implementation, said the central issue was whether plaintiffs showed violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“In making this determination, the Court must follow the law of the United States Supreme Court and the Fourth Circuit,” Biggs wrote amid 134 pages of opinion.
“Finally,” said Sen. Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, the president pro tempore of the General Assembly’s upper chamber. “After seven years, we can put to rest any doubt that our state’s Voter I.D. law is constitutional. This is a monumental win for the citizens of North Carolina and election integrity efforts.”
Twenty-four states require photo ID to vote; 12 others accept forms of identification without a photograph.
Because of litigation, by progressive groups and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, the law hasn’t been enacted with staying power.
The case was heard with a bench trial in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina.
Plaintiffs were the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP and other groups. Defendants were Alan Hirsch, former chairman in his official capacity with the State Board of Elections, and Berger in his Senate capacity.
