While states across the nation are looking for ways to combat rampant reports of voter fraud, North Carolina decided to implement some commonsense regulations requiring individuals to present identification prior to casting a ballot.
Included in the new law is a reduction in the allotted period of early voting to 10 days and the elimination of same-day voter registration.
Although the requirements apply to all North Carolinians equally, a number of race-obsessed activists – including Attorney General Eric Holder – contend that the law is somehow discriminatory.
“The state legislature took extremely aggressive steps to curtail the voting rights of African-Americans,” Holder said late last year.
His comments came as he announced the Justice Department’s latest lawsuit against a U.S. state.
“This is an intentional step to break a system that was working,” he alleged; “and it defies common sense.”
This administration, it seems, not only believes a system that allows – if not encourages – fraud is perfectly functional, but cannot fathom why a state would be interested in combating such misbehavior.
A clear majority of states have laws on the books with similar requirements, many of which have faced accusations of racism despite the fact that residents of all ethnicities must provide an ID to vote.
Several attorneys, representing the DOJ, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, and the League of Women Voters, showed up in Winston-Salem Monday to demand a preliminary injunction regarding certain aspects of the law.
NAACP President Rev. William Barber called the law “a full assault on the franchise of voting,” while Irving Joyner, a lawyer representing the organization, made it clear where his client’s loyalties lie.
“Our focus is on the turnout of African-Americans,” he said, disregarding empirical evidence showing the new law has had no impact on poll traffic.
As Republican Sen. Bob Rucho explained, reports show that there was no drop in voting during the primary season, adding the law was designed to be fair to everyone. Its requirements, he noted, were implemented over time to allow all voters to comply.
“There was no voter suppression,” he concluded. “Actually, we had some good turnouts for a primary election.”
Photo credit: US Department of Education (Flickr)
No comments:
Post a Comment