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Posted by : Tuesday, October 15, 2013In Uncategorized

Voter IDHere’s a pretty amazing and frustrating story: Richard Posner, one of the conservative pillars of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit in Chicago told an interviewer last Friday that he erred in upholding Indiana’s groundbreaking and vote-suppressing voter ID law.

As Think Progress reports today:

Judge Richard Posner authored a federal appeals court decision upholding the nation’s first voter ID law, a common voter suppression law that disproportionately disenfranchises people of color, students and low income voters. The Supreme Court, while technically deciding the case on a narrower grounds than Posner’s opinion, later ensured that voter ID laws would flourish by making them virtually impossible to challenge under the Constitution. Read More

Posted by : Monday, September 30, 2013 14 Comments In Uncategorized

Pat McCrory 4Another day and another strange and troubling moment for Governor McCrory. 

Today’s came when the Governor charged into the press room at the state Administration Building to read a four-and-a-half minute statement in response to the announcement by the U.S. Department of Justice that it would be adding North Carolina to the list of states it has sued in recent years for unlawfully suppressing voting rights.

While there was much in the statement itself that fell short — the Governor seemed, for instance, not to remember that his voter suppression law includes multiple provisions spread out over 49 pages and is about a lot more than just voter ID requirements – there were at least two other items about the event that had to leave observers shaking their heads:

#1 – The Governor took no questions from the media. To which all a body can say in response is “What the heck?” You summon the cameras and reporters all the way over to your office and then can’t even deign to answer a few questions? Obviously, the Guv has made no secret of his disdain for the media, but this is important stuff. The citizens have a right to know what their Governor is thinking and whether he really even understands what he is talking about. You’ll remember that in the past, the Guv announced he would sign the voter suppression bill before he’d even read the entire thing. Sadly, today, we failed to learn whether he had ever finished reading it.

#2 – The Governor, regrettably, appeared to tell another little white lie during his few minutes at the podium. Read More

Posted by : Monday, September 30, 2013In Uncategorized

Bob HallThe state’s leading  independent elections law analyst and advocate, Bob Hall of Democracy NC, released the following statement (and data) this morning in response  to the U.S. Justice Department’s announcment that it will sue the state of North Carolina over the racially discriminatory impact of new voter suppression laws:

“Democracy North Carolina applauds the decision of the US Department of Justice to file suit against key provisions of North Carolina’s new anti-voter law, HB-589. We welcome a vigorous challenge to a law designed to push away certain voters and rig the election system to benefit incumbent politicians.

North Carolina has a sad history of voter suppression, stemming from the Jim Crow laws adopted by Democrats over 100 years ago that included the poll tax, literacy tests and other measures aimed at pushing away African Americans and low-income white voters. As a result of those laws and intimidating practices, North Carolina ranked in the bottom 12 states for voter turnout throughout the entire Twentieth Century.

Since 2000, voter participation has finally begun to increase for all parties and demographic groups, thanks to Early Voting, Same-Day Registration, and other measures that make voting more accessible yet secure. In 2008, North Carolina climbed to 22nd among the 50 states for voter turnout among eligible citizens, and in 2012 we ranked 11th, a modern record.

Republican lawmakers had clear evidence that their proposals would harm African American voters more than white voters, yet they intentionally chose to adopt those provisions. Read More

Posted by : Tuesday, September 24, 2013 4 Comments In Uncategorized

Despite recent action by the State Board of Elections overturning the efforts of Pasquotank County officials to prevent an Elizabeth City State University student from running for office, activists at NC Vote Defenders report that all is not yet hunky dory for ECSU students seeking to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

As the activist group reported yesterday on its website:

It’s Already Started: Student Voter Suppression Hits NC on the First Day of Early Voting Read More

Posted by : Tuesday, September 3, 2013In Uncategorized

Lunch sandwichHere’s something to spur a little dyspepsia on the first day of a short work week: The General Assembly is back in Raleigh!  Yes, just six weeks or so after blowing town, the honorables are back for what will apparently be a two-day veto session. In case you’ve forgotten, the state Constitution (Article II, Section 22) requires an affirmative vote of three-fifths of those present and voting to override a gubernatorial veto and, at this point, it looks very much as if both the House and Senate will produce margins of this amount or greater on both bills at issue. In other words, it would appear that Governor McCrory’s September is about to get off to a start very much consistent with his extremely lousy August – a month so bad that it prompted his hometown newspaper to question his truthfulness.  

And speaking of important official events in Raleigh today, the State Board of Elections will convene at 1:00 to take up an appeal of a candidate challenge to Montravias King from Pasquotank County. Click here to watch the live feed from WRAL. The Board will also consider the appeals for one-stop alternate plans for 2013 municipal elections in Watauga and Pitt counties. Students and civic groups including NCPIRG, Common Cause, Ignite NC, NCSU Student Power Union, Democracy NC and Rock the Vote will be on hand to call on the Board to reverse recent decisions by local county boards of elections that make it harder for young people to vote.

And speaking of “must see” video, Read More

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