From the local Winston-Salem Chronicle:
The new Voter ID law on the midterm election ballot, presented as a constitutional amendment, passed in the state of North Carolina with 55 percent of voters approving the measure. A similar law was passed in 2013, but was dismissed in 2016 by federal judges that were quoted as saying the policy “targeted African-Americans with almost surgical precision.” This ruling speaks to the history of voter suppression experienced in many southern states.
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice, a complainant in the lawsuit, explained further on their website:
Six voters challenging the state’s new photo ID requirements filed a lawsuit minutes after the regulations became law. The complaint was filed in Wake County Superior Court along with a motion requesting a preliminary injunction, asking the court to halt the implementation of the law until the case can be heard in court.
State lawmakers overrode Governor Cooper’s veto of S 824, Implementation of Voter ID Constitutional Amendment, on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 19, 2018, as part of a lame-duck legislative session in which several members who lost re-election voted in favor of the override.
The full complaint and the motion for preliminary injunction can be viewed here.
Leave a Reply