RALEIGH – North Carolina lawmakers today announced plans to introduce a bill that would place a constitutional amendment on the November ballot “to require voters to provide photo identification before voting” and could make it more difficult for thousands of North Carolina voters to participate in elections.
Sarah Gillooly, the Director of Political Strategy and Advocacy for the American Civil Liberties Union of North Carolina, released the following statement:
“This is the latest in a long line of measures North Carolina legislators have pushed with one clear goal: to suppress voter turnout by making it harder for some of our state’s most marginalized voters, particularly people of color and those with low income, to participate in the democratic process. Once again, North Carolina lawmakers are trying to rig elections through shameful partisan tricks, rather than taking steps to ensure that every eligible voter is able to cast a ballot that counts. North Carolinians are tired of these blatant and discriminatory power grabs from politicians who keep trying to rig the system and turn back the clock on voting rights. We have come too far to allow Jim Crow-style restrictions to seep back into North Carolina elections, and we will stand with North Carolinians across the state to fight back and ensure that the right to vote is protected for all.”
In 2013, the North Carolina General Assembly passed voting restrictions, including voter ID, that targeted Black voters “with discriminatory intent” and “almost surgical precision,” according to a 2016 federal appeals court ruling that overturned the law.
