As the Senate takes up a raft of changes to North Carolina election laws on Wednesday, opponents said attorneys are already reviewing the proposal for a planned legal challenge. House Bill 589 initially called for voters to present photo identification at the polls, but Senate Republicans rolled out an amended bill Tuesday that included measures affecting voter registration, early voting and campaign finance. Rep. Mickey Michaux, D-Durham, said the legislation runs afoul of the Voting Rights Act. Although the U.S. Supreme Court recently invalidated part of the federal law, saying it was outdated, other sections prohibiting voter discrimination remain intact. “Voting is being emasculated in this state,” Michaux said during a news conference by the Legislative Black Caucus.
He and Sen. Earline Parmon, D-Forsyth, recalled traveling across North Carolina 50 years ago to register voters, and they said they were appalled that those gains could now be stripped away.
“This is an abomination,” Parmon said of the bill’s impact. “It’s immoral, and it’s just downright wrong.”
State NAACP President William Barber vowed to fight the proposal both in and outside of the courts.
“This is a battle we must fight for all North Carolinians and all Americans,” Barber said during a separate news conference.
Full Article: Opponents plan legal challenge to voting changes :: WRAL.com.