North Carolina’s sweeping and restrictive new voting law is facing multiple legal challenges from civil rights groups that argue it discriminates against black and young voters. Republican Governor Pat McCrory signed the bill Monday, which goes into effect in 2016. Among other things, the law requires voters to bring state-issued photo IDs to the polls, cuts down early voting time by one week, eliminates same-day voter registration, and bans pre-registration for youth voters who will turn 18 on Election Day. The American Civil Liberties Union, along with two other groups, immediately filed a legal challenge that argues the law attempts to suppress minority voters, thereby violating the Constitution and the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The NAACP has filed a similar suit.
Allison Riggs, a staff attorney for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, said in a statement, “Taken together, the new restrictions in this law will disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of eligible voters, depriving many of our most vulnerable citizens from being able to easily exercise a constitutional right.”
A third lawsuit will challenge the voter ID provision under the state’s constitution, according to The Nation.
Full Article: 630WPRO.COM | Rhode Island’s News & Talk Station – Civil Rights Groups Vow to Overturn NC Voting Reform Law [From ABC News].
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