Fed­er­al judge strikes down felon vot­ing law in North Car­oli­na, alleg­ing ‘dis­crim­i­na­to­ry intent’

A fed­er­al judge struck down a North Car­oli­na law mak­ing it ille­gal for felons to vote before their rights have been restored, with the court find­ing the law had “dis­crim­i­na­to­ry intent.”
The rul­ing does not change state law to allow felons to vote but rather strikes down a law poten­tial­ly mak­ing it a sep­a­rate felony for felons who cast a vote even if they are still inel­i­gi­ble. Those bring­ing the chal­lenge alleged the law, which dates back to 1877, was designed to “dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly impact Black North Car­olini­ans.”
“The Chal­lenged Statute was enact­ed with dis­crim­i­na­to­ry intent, has not been cleansed of its dis­crim­i­na­to­ry taint, and con­tin­ues to dis­pro­por­tion­ate­ly impact Black vot­ers,” accord­ing to the Mon­day court order. “There­fore, the Court finds that the Chal­lenged Statute vio­lates the Equal Pro­tec­tion Clause.”
Judge L …