Court denies North Carolina motion to
stay decision on voter ID law
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[August 05, 2016]
(Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court
issued an order on Thursday denying North Carolina's motion to stay the
court's decision last week striking down the state's voter ID law.
The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said staying its ruling now "would
only undermine the integrity and efficiency of the upcoming election."
On Friday, the court ruled that the North Carolina law, which required
voters to show photo identification when casting ballots, intentionally
discriminated against African-American residents.
Attorneys for the state in a written motion earlier this week asked the
court to put its ruling on hold while the state appeals to the U.S.
Supreme Court and seeks to overturn the decision ahead of the U.S.
presidential election in November.
The court's move to strike down the state's voter ID law was a victory
for rights advocates that will enable thousands of people to vote more
easily and could boost Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton's
support in the state going into the election.
The decision by the U.S. appeals court also canceled provisions of the
law that scaled back early voting in the potential swing state,
prevented residents from registering and voting on the same day, and
eliminated the ability of voters to vote outside their assigned
precinct.
The order noted that North Carolina officials already said they could
conduct early voting at Board of Election offices for each county, in
line with the ruling.
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An election worker checks a voter's drivers license as North
Carolina's controversial "Voter ID" law goes into effect for the
state's presidential primary election at a polling place in
Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S. on March 15, 2016. REUTERS/Chris
Keane/File Photo
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"Finally, we observe that our injunction merely returns North
Carolina's voting procedures to the status quo prevailing before the
discriminatory law was enacted," the order denying a stay said.
(Reporting by Eric Beech in Washington and Alex Dobuzinskis in Los
Angeles; Editing by Eric Walsh and Diane Craft)
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