Trial Begins In Controversial Voter ID Case

North Carolina is making national news again for its voting laws.

The trial – which will test whether or not the state's voter ID law is constitutional – got underway Monday with opening arguments. The trial is expected last about a week, but the timeline for a final decision is up to the judge.

WFDD's Paul Garber is following the trial, and sat down with Sean Bueter to go over the basics of this sometimes confusing legal battle.

Interview Highlights

On who the main players are:

“The plaintiffs – the folks who are bringing the lawsuit – are, for example, the NAACP and the Department of Justice, who are concerned about voters being disenfranchised by the state's sweeping voting laws that were enacted a few years ago. The defendants are the state and Gov. McCrory, who want to keep those laws on the books.”

On why the plaintiffs are fighting against the new voter ID law:

“Their main concern is that it disproportionally affects minorities – African-Americans, Latinos – and their concern is that some of these folks are not as well educated, so they may be confused about the requirements. Because [those groups] tend to be poorer, they may not have transportation or may not be able to get time away from their jobs to go get that [ID].”

On the State of North Carolina's case to keep voter ID on the books:

“In their opening arguments, they said a very small proportion of voters will be impacted by this and that there's broad support for it among North Carolinians. However, when Judge Schroeder asked them whether they'd looked at how that breaks down by racial groups, they could not answer that question.”

Garber says it's unclear how the decision – or lack thereof – in this case could affect the North Carolina primary elections, which take place March 15th.