Controversial North Carolina Voter ID Law Struck Down by Federal Appeals Court

— -- With just 101 days until Election Day, a federal appeals court struck down key parts of North Carolina’s controversial voter ID law, saying “we can only conclude that the North Carolina General Assembly enacted the challenged provisions of the law with discriminatory intent.”

“We cannot ignore the record evidence that, because of race, the legislature enacted one of the largest restrictions of the franchise in modern North Carolina history,” the U.S. 4th Circuit Court of Appeals said in its ruling.

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory blasted the ruling.

"Photo IDs are required to purchase Sudafed, cash a check, board an airplane or enter a federal court room. Yet, three Democratic judges are undermining the integrity of our elections while also maligning our state," McCrory said in a statement. "We will immediately appeal and also review other potential options."

Meanwhile, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, president of the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, said, “This government took our voting system -- which was a model for the nation in encouraging people to vote, not discouraging them -- and they made it into the worst voter suppression act in the country.”

“Today the 4th Circuit’s decision gives North Carolinians back an electoral system that allows the people of North Carolina to vote freely this fall,” he said.

U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch welcomed the decision, saying the law, "sent a message that contradicted some of the most basic principles of our democracy."

"The ability of Americans to have a voice in the direction of their country -- to have a fair and free opportunity to help write the story of this nation -- is fundamental to who we are and who we aspire to be," Lynch said in a statement. The U.S. Department of Justice was party to the case.

ABC News’ Supreme Court Contributor Kate Shaw called the ruling "a big win for voting-rights advocates and a serious rebuke to the North Carolina legislature."

Today's ruling reverses the decision by a district court judge, who in April said that there was insufficient evidence to prove discrimination, according to The Associated Press.

The law in question, which was passed in 2013, required voters who vote in person to show an approved form of photo identification, halted some electoral procedures like same-day voter registration and pre-registration for voters who would turn 18 by Election Day, and restricted early voting.

North Carolina is a so-called “purple state,” because it does not consistently vote for either major political party, making it neither a blue state nor a red state consistently. In 2008, a majority of North Carolinians voted for Barack Obama, but in 2012 the majority voted for Mitt Romney.

“In response to claims that intentional racial discrimination animated its action, the State offered only meager justifications,” the court found.

Proponents of the law, including Gov. McCrory, say it is needed to guard against voter fraud.

Opponents, like the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP, which was party to the court case, believe the law -- and similar laws like it -- disenfranchise certain voters, namely minorities.

“Although the new provisions target African Americans with almost surgical precision, they constitute inapt remedies for the problems assertedly justifying them and, in fact, impose cures for problems that did not exist,” the court found.

North Carolina is one of several states that have passed voter ID laws in recent years.

Dale Ho, director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Voting Rights Project, called the ruling, “a major victory for North Carolina voters and for voting rights.”

Republican leaders in the North Carolina legislature also denounced the court's ruling.

"Since today's decision by three partisan Democrats ignores legal precedent, ignores the fact that other federal courts have used North Carolina's law as a model, and ignores the fact that a majority of other states have similar protections in place, we can only wonder if the intent is to reopen the door for voter fraud, potentially allowing fellow Democrat politicians like Hillary Clinton and Roy Cooper to steal the election," North Carolina Senate Leader Phil Berger and House Speaker Tim Moore said in a joint statement, obtained by ABC affiliate WTVD in Raleigh. "We will obviously be appealing this politically-motivated decision to the Supreme Court."

North Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Westbrook Strach told WTVD, "Absent alternative guidance from the courts, voters will not be asked to show photo identification this election. Early voting will run October 20 through November 5, and same-day registration will be available at early voting sites."

"Counsel for the state are reviewing options on appeal. Regardless of the outcome, our agency will continue to educate voters and prepare elections officials ahead of November," Strach added.

A federal appeals court ruled last week that Texas' strict voter ID law violates the Voting Rights Act and ordered changes before the November election.