--- title: Supreme Court Gives North Carolina Voting Law the Green Light description: Same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting are prohibited in the Tar Heel state this November canonical: https://time.com/3482974/supreme-court-north-carolina-voter-rights-midterm/ author: Maya Rhodan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-10-09T01:45:56.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-21T10:40:24.260Z article:section: Politics og:title: Supreme Court Gives North Carolina Voting Law the Green Light og:description: Same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting are prohibited in the Tar Heel state this November og:url: https://time.com/3482974/supreme-court-north-carolina-voter-rights-midterm/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9edeeb2b6b6d63ff/69875f5aa988ca13b76a9a69/north-carolina1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: A voter displays their "I Voted" sticker on their lapel after voting as others wait in line for the first day of Early Voting on October 18, 2012 in Wilson, North Carolina. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Supreme Court Gives North Carolina Voting Law the Green Light twitter:description: Same-day registration and out-of-precinct voting are prohibited in the Tar Heel state this November twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9edeeb2b6b6d63ff/69875f5aa988ca13b76a9a69/north-carolina1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Supreme Court Allows North Carolina Voting Law to Stand in Midterm > Sponsored content. 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Brief is TIME's Washington newsletter, written by senior correspondent Philip Elliott. It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. It reaches 85,000 subscribers with a 37.0% open rate as of August 2026. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 9, 2014 1:45 AM UTC  A voter displays an "I Voted" sticker on her lapel after voting as others wait in line for the first day of early voting on Oct. 18, 2012, in Wilson, N.C. A voter displays an "I Voted" sticker on her lapel after voting as others wait in line for the first day of early voting on Oct. 18, 2012, in Wilson, N.C. Sara D. Davis—Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Oct 9, 2014 1:45 AM UTC Voters in North Carolina will not have access to same-day registration or out-of-precinct voting in this midterm election, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday blocked an appellant court order to stay parts of a sweeping voting law that voting-rights advocates say could leave many voters disenfranchised come November. “We are disappointed with the Supreme Court’s ruling today,” the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, said in a statement. **“**Tens of thousands of North Carolina voters, especially African-American voters, have relied on same-day registration, as well as the counting of ballots that were cast out of precinct, for years.” The North Carolina State Board of Elections said that in 2010, over 21,000 voters registered and voted on the same day during the early voting period, and just over 6,000 voters were able to have their ballots counted even though they voted in the wrong precinct. During May’s 2014 primary, over [400 voters](http://www.democracy-nc.org/downloads/DisenfrancVotersPrim2014.pdf) didn’t have their votes counted because these provisions were removed, Durham-based organization [Democracy NC](http://www.democracy-nc.org/contact/) reports. These measures are just two of many that the heavily GOP-backed law eliminated in 2013, in what supporters called an effort to prevent voting fraud in the Tar Heel state. Several organizations have filed a suit against the voting law in the hope of blocking it before this year’s election. Critics of the law had cause for hope when an appellant court ruled last week that [parts of the law should be blocked](http://time.com/3453210/north-carolina-voting-law-midterm-elections/) in November, but the state quickly appealed to the [Supreme Court](http://time.com/3462149/north-carolina-voting-rights/). In an interview with TIME on Monday, Penda Hair, co-director of the Advancement Project which is representing the North Carolina NAACP in the case against HB 589, said they would “continue to fight this case” which goes to full trial next summer. “We’re going to do everything we can to make sure voters do get registered and do get to the right precinct,” Hair said. “But, the problem is issues sometimes slip through.” Early voting begins Oct. 23 in North Carolina. 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