North Carolina: Kay Hagan Seeks Federal Review Of North Carolina Voting Law | Reuters

U.S. Senator Kay Hagan, a North Carolina Democrat expected to face a tough battle to retain her seat in 2014, on Tuesday asked U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to review a restrictive new state voting law championed by Republicans that she said will undermine the right to vote in her state. In a letter to Holder, Hagan said she was “deeply concerned” that the new law, which includes a requirement that voters bring photo identification to the polls, will deny voting rights to minorities, young people, the elderly and the poor. “Protecting the fundamental right of our citizens to vote should be among the federal government’s highest priorities,” Hagan wrote. On Monday, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, signed into law sweeping new election reforms, making his the first state to enact new restrictions since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down parts of a Civil Rights-era law designed to protect minority voters.
Opponents argue that because the affected voters tend to vote Democratic, the law was designed to bolster Republican success at the polls. But supporters say it eliminates voter fraud and standardizes elections across the state.
The law also includes measures that reduce time allowed for early voting, eliminate voter registration on election day, ban student IDs from being used at the polls and shut down a program that pre-registered 16- and 17-year-olds to vote.
It will not go into effect until 2016, which means it will not affect Hagan’s race, the outcome of which could help determine whether Republicans or Democrats hold a majority in the U.S. Senate for the last two years of President Barack Obama’s term.
Full Article: Kay Hagan Seeks Federal Review Of North Carolina Voting Law.