WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – Attorneys for the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice will present arguments in federal court on Monday, July 7, asking that North Carolina's voter suppression law be placed on hold for the 2014 midterm elections.
"The bottom line is that North Carolinians should be able to vote in the November election without having to navigate the obstacles imposed by this discriminatory law," said Chris Brook, legal director of the ACLU of North Carolina.
The ACLU, the ACLU of North Carolina, and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice challenged the law last August, but the case is not expected to reach trial until summer 2015. The groups filed a preliminary injunction motion in May to block key portions of the law from being in effect prior to the trial.
"If this law is subsequently found unconstitutional, eligible voters who were denied their vote in the midterm elections won't get a do-over. The damage will have been done. That's why this law needs to be set aside. Voters have a fundamental right to participate in our democracy," said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project.
The case, League of Women Voters of North Carolina et al. v. North Carolina, was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina. It was brought on behalf of the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute, North Carolina Common Cause, Unifour Onestop Collaborative, and several individuals.
The lawsuit targets provisions of the law that eliminate a week of early voting, end same-day registration, and prohibit out-of-precinct voting. The groups charge that enacting these provisions would unduly burden the right to vote and discriminate against African-American voters, in violation of the U.S. Constitution's equal protection clause and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
"We'll be in court because we believe that North Carolinians have a right to participate in the political process, even if some politicians think otherwise," said Southern Coalition for Social Justice staff attorney Allison Riggs.
WHAT: Federal court hearing seeking halt to N.C. voter suppression law for midterm elections
WHO: American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice
WHEN: Monday, July 7, 9:30 a.m.
WHERE: U.S. District Courthouse, 251 N. Main St., Winston-Salem, N.C.
More information about this case is available at: aclu.org/voting-rights/league-women-voters-north-carolina-et-al-v-north-carolina