North Carolina Voter ID Law Challenged

Aaron Sorkin must be so happy. The U.S. Justice Department will file a lawsuit Monday challenging North Carolina’s restrictive voter-ID law, charging that it is an illegal form of discrimination against minorities. Enacted after the U.S. Supreme Court invalidated parts of the 1964 Voting Rights Act, the North Carolina law limits early voting, eliminates same-day registration at the polls, and requires all voters to have a government-issued ID. Opponents of the law have charged that North Carolina is disproportionately targeting poor, minority, and elderly voters. For example, a study by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles has found that voter ID requirements disproportionately affect black voters.