Kevin Johnson

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday declined to overturn an appeals court ruling last month that struck down North Carolina's controversial voter identification requirement.

The justices rejected the request by Republican Gov. Pat McCrory to reinstate the law that the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit said last month "disproportionately affected African Americans'' in North Carolina.

"The new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision,'' the appellate court panel said. "They constitute inapt remedies ... and impose cures for problems that did not exist.''

As a result of the Supreme Court action, early voting in this year's presidential election will extend for 17 days and voters will not have to present photo identification at their assigned precincts.

The law had threatened to impact the presidential race in the battleground state, which President Obama won narrowly in 2008, but Mitt Romney claimed for Republicans in 2012.

Civil rights groups, including the North Carolina NAACP, had challenged the strict voting law, along with the U.S. Justice Department.

The effect of the Supreme Court's decision, McCrory said Wednesday is that the state "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," McCrory said.

Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, called the decision "great news for North Carolinians.''

"Let's make voting easier so every voice in our democracy can be heard,'' Clinton said in a statement posted on her Twitter account.



Contributing: Richard Wolf

North Carolina voting restrictions struck down