Judge strikes down law on felon voting as unconstitutional
A federal judge on Monday struck down a North Carolina law that criminalized voting for people with felony convictions.
In a 25-page order, U.S. District Judge Loretta Biggs wrote that the law, which was originally passed in 1877, “was enacted with discriminatory intent, has not been cleansed of its discriminatory taint, and continues to disproportionately impact Black voters.”
Biggs’ ruling does not affect the rules regarding voter eligibility for people with felony convictions. North Carolinians convicted of felonies are still ineligible to vote until they have completed their sentences.
The case dealt with a separate law that made it a Class I felony for anyone with a felony conviction to vote before their citizenship rights had been restored.
Two advocacy organizations, the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute and Action NC, sued over the law in 2020, arguing that it violated the Equal Protection Clause by targeting Black voters.
Biggs agreed, noting that even the state’s lawyers acknowledged the law’s racist origins.
“Defendants, in an extraordinary and telling concession,
‘do not contest that the historical background from the original enactments of 1877 and 1899 are indefensible,’” she
wrote. “’Defendants further do not contest that the law current
ly impacts African-Americans at a higher rate than it does other citizens.’”
Efforts to reach representatives for House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger, the Republican leaders who are defendants in the case, for comment weren’t immediately successful Tuesday morning.
The groups bringing the lawsuit also argued that the law was so vague as to be unconstitutional, as the state did not give people with felony convictions adequate notice of criminal liability.
Last year, lawmakers enacted a change to the challenged law as part of a major elections bill, Senate Bill 747. The change said that felons could not be prosecuted for voting unless they knew their rights had not been restored.
After passing this change, the state’s lawyers argued that the lawsuit was now moot. Biggs did not agree, rejecting the recommendation of a magistrate judge who suggested the case should be dismissed in January.
Bigg’s decision could be appealed to a higher court.
A separate case on the state level dealt with voter eligibility for formerly incarcerated felons. A trial court ruled in their favor in 2022, finding that residents serving felony sentences could vote once released from prison. The state Supreme Court reversed that ruling last year after Republicans won a majority on the court in the midterms.