VICTORY: Attorney General Eric Holder stops North Carolina Republicans from disenfranchising voters

The federal Voting Rights Act used to protect the right to vote for millions of minorities, students and seniors in North Carolina. But after the Supreme Court struck down key provisions of that federal law in June of this year, North Carolina Republicans immediately voted to turn back the clock on progress.

If House Bill 589 were to take effect, thousands of voters in North Carolina would have been disenfranchised. About 318,000 registered North Carolina voters lacked the limited forms of ID that would be accepted. The legislation cut back on early voting hours and dates that were used by 70 percent of Black voters in 2012 and gave many working class people access to the ballot box. Same-day voter registration, often used by students and voters who move soon before Election Day, would have been eliminated. Eligible voters who are given incorrect information by election officials and vote in the wrong location can have their entire ballots thrown out. And if that wasn’t bad enough, voters who actually follow all the rules will have to face “challengers” who will be allowed to intimidate voters at their polling place.

CREDO members numbering 6,553 signed a petition against this. On Monday, September 30, Attorney General Holder announced that he would sue North Carolina to block a wide array of voting restrictions contained in House Bill 589 from taking effect.