Voting rights advocates are rightfully celebrating a string of recent voting rights victories in federal courts in North Carolina, Kansas, Wisconsin and Texas.
The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit (of which Virginia is a part) ruled unanimously in late July that North Carolina’s current voting laws intentionally and unconstitutionally discriminate on the basis of race.
Right after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in 2013 in the case of Shelby County v. Holder, which freed North Carolina, Virginia and other southern states from the Act’s pre-clearance requirements, the North Carolina legislature acted to make it more difficult for North Carolinians to vote. Before then,  North Carolina had same-day registration for all voters, pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, broadly accessible early voting, out-of-precinct provisional voting and flexible voter ID requirements.
The Appeals Court found that the legislature actively consulted data that made clear that African Americans disproportionately took advantage of these pro-voting laws, and that it acted deliberately and intentionally to reduce voting by African Americans. The Court’s decision was an appropriate repudiation of this injustice and intentional discrimination..
The sad reality of this decision, however, is that it illuminates how much further ahead of Virginia North Carolina was before it passed the post-Shelby legislation declared unconstitutional last week.
Here’s how pre-Shelby North Carolina compared to current Virginia voting rules:

  • Same-day registration for all voters in North Carolina. Virginia has never had this.
  • North Carolina allowed pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds.Virginia only allows those who will be 18 on or after election day to register in advance and does not generally encourage pre-registration.
  • North Carolina has had broadly accessible early voting. Virginia allows, but does not require, registrars to permit in-person voting before election day but only by those qualified to vote absentee. Virginia does not allow no-excuse early voting or no-excuse absentee voting.
  • North Carolina has allowed out-of-precinct provisional voting. While Virginia does provide for provisional ballots for those whose addresses do not match voter rolls, including for those without ID on election day, the votes will not be counted if the person does not actually live in the precinct or if the person fails to show up at the registrar’s office with ID after the fact.
  • North Carolina had flexible voter ID requirements. This provision is most similar to that of Virginia. Virginia’s photo ID law currently does allow some forms of photo ID in addition to a DMV ID, including a free ID from the registrar.

Virginia’s voter ID law was recently upheld as constitutional by a federal judge in Richmond in a case asserting that the photo ID requirement adversely affected the voting rights of minorities. The decision is on appeal to the Fourth Circuit.
The Appeals Court decision in the North Carolina case revolves around the facts and doesn’t directly affect Virginia nor telegraph how the Fourth Circuit will decide the Virginia voter ID case.
Nonetheless, we hope that the Court’s ruling will discourage Virginia’s General Assembly from enacting further limitations on the exercise of the franchise in Virginia, and encourage the legislature instead to consider passing laws that would open up access to the ballot box for all Virginians, including:

  • No excuse absentee voting available to any voter;
  • Early voting opportunities equally available in every jurisdiction;
  • Repeal of the photo ID requirement for voters; and
  • Same-day voter registration.

Virginia has a long way to go to protect and encourage voting for all.