Ruling backs Alabama’s voter-ID law

ATLANTA — Federal appeals judges upheld a lower court Tuesday and rejected claims that an Alabama law that requires voters to show government-issued photo identification at the polls is racially discriminatory.

The decision by a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Court of Appeals, which upheld a 2018 ruling that dismissed a lawsuit filed by the NAACP and others, was a victory for Republicans who contend the law is needed to prevent voter fraud.

Rebuffing opponents who argued the law violated the Constitution and the Voting Rights Act, the court ruled that “no reasonable factfinder could find that Alabama’s voter ID law is unconstitutionally discriminatory” based on the evidence.

But Judge Darrin Gayles, a district judge who heard the case with the circuit judges, dissented in an opinion that noted Alabama’s “deep and troubled history of racial discrimination” and voter suppression. While some absentee fraud occurs, Gayle wrote, in-person voting fraud is “virtually non-existent.”

Secretary of State John Merrill said the ruling affirmed that the state’s voter-ID law is valid. He also said his office has “worked to see that every eligible resident of our state, who is interested, is registered to vote and has a photo ID.”

“Alabama’s voter identification law, by both design and practice, is easily satisfied, and it contains procedures to allow anyone who does not have a photo ID to obtain one. The appeals court in its opinion agreed,” Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall said in a statement Tuesday.