NC claims voter suppression championship, faces lawsuits

<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">North Carolina is No. 1 -- in voter suppression. Gov. Pat McCrory ensured that yesterday </span><a href="http://www.wral.com/election-changes-coming-in-2014-2016/12750290/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">when he signed into law legislation that makes it harder</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> for the poor, minorities, young people, seniors and the disabled to vote.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRvd7OcRJwSLnAvm2jk9RUhYlygxR3mMZPDDW6PfY5utq_fYqWjm7Zn5cwTzsw_Cp2fFpKfLP3aE99hqaYbyQ1ABkdOtgXpHhlmN-aQ7fKHWTdM54pkVNFRnO50aJGEXnyoA2kX5DzKVs/s1600/7-26moralmondayphoto.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="He was a protester at a July Moral Monday rally in Raleigh, N.C." border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRvd7OcRJwSLnAvm2jk9RUhYlygxR3mMZPDDW6PfY5utq_fYqWjm7Zn5cwTzsw_Cp2fFpKfLP3aE99hqaYbyQ1ABkdOtgXpHhlmN-aQ7fKHWTdM54pkVNFRnO50aJGEXnyoA2kX5DzKVs/s320/7-26moralmondayphoto.jpg" title="A man holds up a banner showing North Carolina is returning to its oppressives ways with new voter suppression law." width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's back to the future for voting rights in North Carolina.</td></tr></tbody></table><a href="http://cdn.optmd.com/V2/80255/186452/index.html?g=Af////8=&r=www.newsobserver.com/2013/08/12/3102133/mccrory-signs-voter-id-bill.html" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Two separate lawsuits were filed in federal court</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> just hours after the governor signed the measure, and a third is expected to be filed in state court today. Meanwhile, Rep. G.K. Butterfield is asking U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder to weigh in to protect voting rights in North Carolina.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Following the lead of a repressive Legislature that also gutted unemployment benefits, Medicaid and education spending this year, McCrory inked a measure that supposedly cracks down on illegal voting in the state. Problem is </span><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/175345/north-carolina-republicans-push-harsh-new-voter-id-law" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">North Carolina has only had two such cases between 2000 and 2010</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="MsoHyperlink"><u><span style="color: blue;">, as Ari Berman points out in The Nation</span></u></span>.</span><br /><o:p><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span></o:p><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> The facts, however, are irrelevant to those behind the effort. The </span><a href="http://www.alecexposed.org/" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">American Legislative Exchange Council</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> (ALEC) pushed the entire corporate-empowerment agenda approved by state lawmakers this year. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Legislature’s attacks on working people in North Carolina sparked a backlash as thousands have joined weekly Moral Monday demonstrations. More than 900 protesters have been arrested since April for acts of civil disobedience. The governor and his cronies -- such as state budget director and </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/02/heres-billionaire-trying-to-destroy.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">campaign money-man Art Pope</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> -- have succeeded in disenfranchising hundreds of thousands of state voters who noticeably tilt against </span><a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/nc-lawmakers-attack-voting-rights.html"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">the political party that instituted the changes</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">:</span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><blockquote class="tr_bq"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">316,000 registered voters don’t have state-issued ID; 34 percent are African-American and 55 percent are registered Democrats. Of the 138,000 voters without ID who cast a ballot in the 2012 election, 36 percent were African-American and 59 registered percent Democrats. The new [law] does not allow student IDs for voting, and would charge $10 to obtain an ID unless a voter signs a form saying they cannot afford it under penalty of perjury, making it among the most restrictive laws in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Already, there are signs that the suppression of voting in the state is being implemented at the local level. The Wataugh County Board of Elections </span><a href="http://www2.wataugademocrat.com/News/story/Elections-board-holds-tense-meeting-id-012233" rel="nofollow"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">jammed through changes yesterday that closed a polling place</span></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> on the Appalachian State University campus, even though the move creates a super-precinct that is more than double the size of the next largest one.<o:p></o:p></span><br /><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><br /><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The decision brought shouts and boos from the 60 people in attendance and disgust from one board member, Kathleen Campbell. She opposed the move and said she was not told of the plan beforehand.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div><blockquote class="tr_bq"> <span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You can’t just come in here like gangbusters. You guys are really out of line.</span></blockquote></div><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Well said.</span>

NC claims voter suppression championship, faces lawsuits

North Carolina is No. 1 -- in voter suppression. Gov. Pat McCrory ensured that yesterday when he signed into law legislation that makes it...

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