North Carolina's photo voter ID mandate can continue as a judge upholds the law

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

Updated 9:29 PM EDT, March 26, 2026


RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina’s photo voter identification law was upheld on Thursday, as a federal judge set aside arguments by civil rights groups that Republicans enacted the requirement with discriminatory intent against Black and Latino voters. The decision by U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs is a huge legal victory for Republican legislative leaders who passed the law in late 2018 — weeks after voters approved a constitutional amendment backing the idea.

North Carolina state Senate leader Phil Berger said in a news release that with Biggs’ decision, “we can put to rest any doubt that our state’s Voter I.D. law is constitutional.”

Biggs had presided in spring 2024 over a non-jury trial in a lawsuit filed by the state NAACP and local chapters, which argued that the ID requirement violated the U.S. Constitution and the federal Voting Rights Act. At trial, the NAACP alleged Republican legislators passed the voter ID law to entrench their political power by discouraging people historically aligned with Democrats from voting.

But lawyers for Republican lawmakers helping defend the law with state attorneys argued that Republicans wouldn’t have passed one of the most permissive voter ID laws among states that have them if they wanted to entrench themselves in state politics. They argued that the law is race-neutral and contains many more categories of qualifying ID than was allowed under a previously approved 2013 voter ID law that was struck down years ago.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/north-carolina-voter-id-discrimination-913fa79f37a89b253ea8740715ce04e6

[Javaman]

1. how is this not a fucking poll tax? nt

[OldBaldy1701E]

2. Yeah.

But lawyers for Republican lawmakers helping defend the law with state attorneys argued that Republicans wouldn’t have passed one of the most permissive voter ID laws among states that have them if they wanted to entrench themselves in state politics. They argued that the law is race-neutral and contains many more categories of qualifying ID than was allowed under a previously approved 2013 voter ID law that was struck down years ago.

You mean that 2013 law that you lot passed to do exactly what the other side said you were trying to do, but you got this one passed and that is because you are no longer trying to do that thing you were tying to do with that last attempt to pass a voter ID law?

This is coming from a rethug legislature that has already 'entrenched' itself in the state government. They cannot lose anything because the system is so rigged and biased that nothing short of a complete overhaul will fix it.

But, my fellow Tar Heels still have the same two choices in this matter.

Stand and fight, or lay down and take it.