North Carolina State Court Judge Michael Morgan has denied the State’s motion to dismiss the Voter ID challenge, Currie v. North Carolina.
SCSJ’s press release is here. The order on the Motion to Dismiss is here and the Order on the Motion for a Stay is here.
SCSJ represents Alberta Currie, the League of Women Voters, the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and two additional individual plaintiffs, all of whom allege that the state’s voter ID law violates the qualifications and equal protection clauses of the state constitution. Right before summary judgment arguments were scheduled in May, the legislature amended (and governor signed) a modification that allows voters who do not have an ID to vote anyway. Termed the “reasonable impediment” exception, voters who do not have one of the acceptable forms of photo ID can sign an affidavit explaining that they have an “impediment” or barrier to obtaining an ID and vote a provisional ballot. Impediments to having an ID might include:
- Lack of transportation.
- Disability or illness.
- Lack of birth certificate or other documents needed to obtain photo ID.
- Work schedule.
- Family responsibilities.
- Lost or stolen photo identification.
- Photo identification applied for but not received by the voter voting in person.
These rules will be in place for the March, 2016 presidential primary election while the Plaintiffs access whether these measures mitigate the violation of their rights caused by the original law.
You can read press accounts of the rulings here, here and here.