title:  SCOTUS Won’t Uphold NC’s Voter Suppression Law And McCrory’s Whining Like A Spoiled Brat About It
text: SCOTUS returned a split 4-4 decision on North Carolina s repressive voter ID law, which means the lower court s ruling that it s unconstitutional stands. North Carolina cannot use that law in November as a basis for turning people away from the polls, and, predictably, Governor Pat McCrory is unhappy with this. His statement on the matter reads more like a toddler whining about being punished for being bad than anything: North Carolina has been denied basic voting rights already granted to more than 30 other states to protect the integrity of one person, one vote through a common-sense voter ID law Even without any support from our state s attorney general, we were pleased that four justices, including Chief Justice John Roberts, agreed with this right while four liberal justices blocked North Carolina protections afforded by our sensible voter laws. B-O-O H-O-O. Our hearts bleed pink carbonated peanut butter for this because McCrory s a delusional twit. Whose rights are being violated without this repressive law in effect? This law is what violates people s basic voting rights.The lower court held that this particular law was actually a voter suppression law, enacted with the intent to suppress minority votes. Why? Probably because North Carolina is a swing state, so every vote really does matter, and they can t have too many people voting Democratic, especially in a presidential year, now can they?No, they can t. Republicans lose power when too many minorities vote. The horror.What McCrory is missing is that, yes, 30 other states have voter ID laws of some sort, but several of those states have seen part, or all, of their laws struck down as well. Those states include North Dakota (home of the attempted six-week abortion ban), Texas, and Wisconsin. Other states Arizona, Kansas, Alabama, Virginia, Ohio and Georgia have litigation on their laws pending.SCOTUS hasn t ruled on all of these cases, and they may not, depending on what else there is to be heard from other states. To hear McCrory talk, however, one would think that all of the courts in the entire country had ruled specifically against North Carolina when other states must have worse laws. These laws don t protect  one person, one vote,  though. They protect Republicans.So what, exactly, did SCOTUS refuse to grant a stay on? North Carolina tried to tighten restrictions on acceptable IDs, for one. That inevitably harms poor minorities. It can also harm young people, who like to vote Democratic more than Republican.They also reduced early voting, another blow to the minority community; eliminated both same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional ballots; and they eliminated pre-registration for 16- and 17-year olds that indicates an intent to vote when they turn 18.McCrory can cry about this all he wants   this is a major victory for everyone who believes in civil rights. The law will stay off the books for November, helping to keep the state in play for the presidential election, ensuring that many more voices are heard, and hopefully meaning that McCrory will lose his job.Featured image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images