Fresh Loaf

It looks as if the voter ID law may finally get put to the test. Yesterday, much-maligned federal Judge Harold Murphy reversed himself, clearing the way for the law to take effect in time for scattered local elections Sept. 18. Murphy’s ruling was based on two key findings: that not as many potential voters would be adversely affected as first thought; and that the state has recently made an effort to make photo IDs more easily available to those who need them. Finally, there was a technical issue over whether the individual plaintiffs in the case were people whose rights were in danger of being trampled.

Early last year, then-Secretary of State Cathy Cox had warned that more than 675,000 registered voters lacked photo ID. That figure was later adjusted to between 195,000 and 300,000. But what seemed to tip the scales in the state’s favor were concessions by lawmakers to make IDs free and easier to get from local registrars. In the end, Murphy decided that, while perhaps time-consuming and inconvenient, obtaining an ID wasn’t an undue hardship on voters.

“We believe the court’s ruling construes the constitutional requirement too narrowly,” says attorney David Brackett, who helped represent the ACLU, League of Women Voters and other groups in the lawsuit. “We believe the issue is whether it’s a burden on the right to vote, not whether it makes it impossible to vote.”

Brackett says lead attorney Emmet Bondurant will decide next week whether to pursue an appeal of the ruling.

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