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Saturday, July 30th, 2016

North Carolina’s Deliberate Disenfranchisement of Black Voters

Author:     David A. Graham
Source:     The Atlantic
Publication Date:     1:50 PM ET
Link: North Carolina’s Deliberate Disenfranchisement of Black Voters
Stephan:   The Republican Party has become the party of White Nationalism; Lincoln, Teddy Roosevelt, and Dwight Eisenhower would be appalled. And no where is the Republican racism clearer that in North Carolina. But, thanks to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals we now have some good news. The blatant voter suppression of Governor McGory and the Republican controlled legislature has now been called out for what it is: a racist attempt to manipulate the ability for minorities, the elderly, and students to vote. As a result based on the demographics North Carolina may now go Blue, which could change the outcome of the election.

NorthCarolina-flag-bigDURHAM, N.C.—The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down key portions of North Carolina’s strict 2013 voting law on Friday, delivering a stern rebuke to the state’s Republican General Assembly and Governor Pat McCrory. The three-judge panel in Richmond, Virginia, unanimously concluded that the law was racially discriminatory, and it blocked a requirement that voters show photo identification to vote and restored same-day voter registration, a week of early voting, pre-registration for teenagers, and out-of-precinct voting.

“In what comes as close to a smoking gun as we are likely to see in modern times, the State’s very justification for a challenged statute hinges explicitly on race—specifically its concern that African Americans, who had overwhelmingly voted for Democrats, had too much access to the franchise,” wrote Judge Diana Gribbon Motz.

North Carolina’s law, often described as the strictest in the nation, passed shortly after the Supreme Court struck down Section 5 the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder. That section required states with a history of voter discrimination to “preclear” any changes to voting laws with the U.S. Department of Justice. Freed from that […]

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