On Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the Fourth US Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that laws in Virginia that require all voters to carry photo identification to the polls do not violate the Unites States’ federal Voting Rights Act or impose an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote. The verdict was a blow for the Virginia Democrats, who had been seeking to overturn the rule on the grounds that it targeted black and minority ethnic voters without any meaningful impact on voter fraud.

Tightening laws

Virginia is one of seven US states in which it is mandatory to produce valid photo ID in order for your ballot to be counted. Until 2012, Virginians without photo identification were able to sign an affirmation of identity at the polls in its place. This option was then scrapped so that only approved photo and non-photo identity document could be used, with the Republican general assembly tightening the laws even further in 2013 so that only photo ID can be used. While voters are able to obtain free photo IDs at voter registrar offices in Virginia, many people are unaware of this option.

Strategic discrimination claims

Democrats have argued that Virginia’s tightened voter identification laws have come in direct response to the shifting electoral demographics that allowed incumbent US President Barack Obama, a Democrat, to win the state of Virginia in the 2008 and 2012 elections. Specifically, the legal challenge claimed that requiring mandatory photo ID systematically makes it harder for black, Latino and young voters to cast a ballot on election day – three groups that generally tend to lean towards Democratic candidates. However, the federal appeals court ruled that the 2013 law ‘was passed through the Virginia legislature through the normal legislative process, and that process was unaccompanied by any facts or circumstances suggesting the presence of racially discriminatory intent.’

Sources: The Guardian; ABC News