RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal appeals court has ruled that a lower court judge wrongly blocked the implementation of North Carolina’s latest photo voter identification law with her legal injunction last year.
Wednesday's unanimous opinion by a panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decided District Judge Loretta Biggs erred by declaring the 2018 requirement was tainted by racial bias largely because a previous voter ID law had been struck down on similar grounds. Both were approved by the Republican-controlled legislature.
The opinion doesn’t mean the voter ID requirement can be carried out now because an injunction is still in place in state court.
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