Lawsuits greet new North Carolina voting laws

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In 2008, Barack Obama got fewer votes on Election Day, but narrowly won North Carolina because of early voting, which is disproportionately used by Democratic and African-American voters in the state. While the bill’s supporters say the legislation will reduce fraud and ensure the integrity of the vote, opponents say the real motivation is to suppress the votes of groups that traditionally lean Democratic and that disproportionately lack photo ID. Absentee voting, overwhelmingly used by white voters, has looser ID requirements.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina Foundation and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a different lawsuit in federal court on Monday, fighting the elimination of the week of early voting, the end of same-day registration, and the prohibition of out-of precinct voting, according to the News & Observer. The suit says those provisions would discriminate against African-American voters in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

“This law is a disaster,” Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Union’s Voting Rights Project, said in a statement. “Eliminating a huge part of early voting will cut off voting opportunities for hundreds of thousands of citizens. It will turn Election Day into a mess, shoving more voters into even longer lines.”

Other lawsuits may be filed, with possible action by U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, who has said the Justice Department would try to block laws implemented in Texas after a Supreme Court decision invalidated a key provision of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one that required selected jurisdictions to “pre-clear” any voting changes. In North Carolina, 40 of 100 counties had been covered.

Before McCrory signed the bill, North Carolina Attorney General Roy Cooper, a Democrat, had urged the governor to veto it and circulated a petition with the same message. That started speculation that Cooper could challenge McCrory in 2016.

‘The greatest hits of voter suppression’

The voting bill promises to resonate throughout the state and nation.

In a recent meeting with civil rights leaders, President Obama discussed strategies to strengthen voting rights in the face of restrictive state legislation. And on Monday, former Secretary of State and possible 2016 presidential contender Hillary Clinton gave a policy speech on the issue in San Francisco at the American Bar Association. Clinton particularly called out North Carolina’s law as “the greatest hits of voter suppression.”

While voter ID provisions won’t go into effect until the 2016 elections, other provisions will roll out before. It’s not known if the new law will motivate voters who disapprove, as happened in Florida in 2012 when long lines and laws cutting early voting did not deter voters. The law will surely be a key rallying cry as “Moral Monday” demonstrations continue to cross the state. It’s the next step in the NAACP-led, diverse movement that gathered and grew weekly to thousands during the legislative session in the state capital of Raleigh to protest a wave of conservative economic and social proposals, with voter ID high on the list.

Just before the funeral of civil rights attorney Julius Chambers in Charlotte last week, the Rev. William Barber, president of the state NAACP, vowed to remember the late director-counsel of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund “through imitation.” Barber said, “We’re going to continue to imitate him by continuing to fight for justice fight for equality, fight for human rights, fight for voting rights.”

A “Moral Monday” protest is planned for Aug. 19 in Charlotte.

Follow Mary on Twitter @mcurtisnc3