Fourth Circuit Strikes Down North Carolina Voting Law as Targeting Black Voters

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously struck down North Carolina's 2013 omnibus voting law on July 29, 2016, finding it targeted African American voters 'with almost surgical precision.' The law had eliminated same-day registration, cut early voting, banned out-of-precinct voting, and required photo ID — after the legislature requested data on which methods Black voters used most. The court found lawmakers had requested this racial data and then restricted those specific methods. The ruling was a major voting rights victory in the wake of Shelby County.