The US Supreme Court [official website] on Monday declined to hear [order list, PDF] a lower court’s rejection of a North Carolina Voter ID law [text, PDF]. The piece of legislation, which was originally enacted in 2013 has faced numerous legal challenges over the past years, including the Supreme Court previously declining to reinstate [JURIST report] the law before the 2016 election. The North Carolina General Assembly urged the Supreme Court to review the lower court decision, which had stated [CNN report] that the bill significantly disenfranchised minorities.

Voter ID laws have been a trend by many States within the recent years, which has led to a series of contested court cases. These laws are often thought to be discriminatory in nature, which has led to backlash in a variety of ways. In February rights groups announced a boycott [JURIST report] in North Carolina over the state’s voter ID law. February in Arkansas, the legislature decided that it would reinstate [JURIST report] a voter id law which had been struck down by the courts two years prior. The Supreme Court in January also declined [JURIST report] to hear an appeal on a Texas law regarding voter id laws.