Intent to discriminate was a “primary motivating factor” behind the voter ID law enacted in 2018 by North Carolina’s Republican legislature, as per the judgment of a three-judge panel of the state’s Court of Appeals in a ruling issued Tuesday. The decision, which comes after a federal court in a separate case had already blocked the voter mandate at least through this year’s primary elections, said that the voter ID requirements crafted by Republicans to implement a voter referendum “are likely to disproportionately impact African-American voters to their detriment.” The law requires acceptable ID to vote but pointedly excludes types of identification disproportionately held by African Americans.