Democrats got a victory in a voting rights case at the Supreme Court today — but don’t get used to that headline. There are dark days ahead for voting rights. In today’s decision, the court didn’t actually judge the case on its merits. It declined to hear a case involving North Carolina’s vote suppression law, which had been struck down by a lower court. In the time since then, Democrats have taken over as governor and attorney general in the state and attempted to withdraw the case over the objection of the legislature, which is still in Republican hands. There’s no question that this is a victory for Democrats and anyone who cares about the right of all Americans to vote. But it’s important to understand that the North Carolina law differs from other voter restrictions Republicans have passed in that its discriminatory intent was so blatant.
As the appeals court that struck it down found, the state’s legislature had obtained data on the racial effects of various voting provisions, then used that information to “target African Americans with almost surgical precision.”
For instance, legislators cut back early voting to eliminate the days African Americans were most likely to vote early, and when it came to the ID requirements, “With race data in hand, the legislature amended the bill to exclude many of the alternative photo IDs used by African Americans.”
If you’re a Republican legislature, the message is clear: When you’re looking to keep African Americans from the polls, just don’t be so obvious about it, and the Supreme Court will probably uphold your restrictions.
Full Article: Despite today’s Supreme Court ruling, the future looks grim for voting rights – The Washington Post.