Voter Suppression in North Carolina:
What’s happening and what it
means for our country

By: Renee Davidson

April 18, 2013--Early this month, a plethora* of voter suppression bills were introduced by members of the North Carolina Legislature.

*shitload

The League of Women Voters North Carolina (LWVNC) has been working hard to challenge the bills, which together threaten nearly every advance that state voting rights advocates have made over the past decade.

If passed, the consequences of the restrictions on voting would be dire:

Access to the polls by seniors, low-income voters, young people and people of color would be drastically limited, and their participation in future elections in North Carolina would undoubtedly be affected.

What is at stake: 

--New requirement of government-issued photo ID.

--New requirement of any one of 8 forms of photo ID or tribal ID card.

Studies have found that photo ID laws disproportionally affect seniors, people of color, people with disabilities, low-income voters, and students.

Data from the State Board of Elections shows that over 300,000 of North Carolina’s currently registered voters lack a photo ID and that paying for IDs would create a kind of poll tax reminiscent of the Jim Crow era.

In March, LWVNC testified before the North Carolina Elections Committee that the voter ID law is costly, unfair and unnecessary.

North Carolinians agree:
According to a poll conducted by SurveyUSA and sponsored by the LWVNC and Democracy North Carolina, 72% of North Carolina voters think it’s “wrong to pass laws that make it harder for certain people to vote” and most are fine with non-photo ID alternatives.

Eliminates tax credits given to parents if their child registers to vote at an address other than the parent’s home.

Bill proposing elimination of tax exemptions worth up to $2,500 to parents whose children or dependents do not live at home, a move that would mostly affect parents of college students.

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that college students have the right to register and vote where they attend school, yet the bill would penalize families of students exercising this right.

A bill would reduce state’s current two-and-a-half week early-voting period by a full week.

Early voting is crucial for America’s democracy:

A whopping 56% of the 4.5 million votes cast in North Carolina November election were made at early voting sites.

Evidence shows that early voting helps decrease wait time at the polls, eliminate crowds and provide increased access to the polls.

Reduces same-day voter registration period.

Eliminates one full week of same-day voter registration

(Voter registration was established in North Carolina in 2007. More than 250,000 residents, mostly young people and people of color, used same-day registration to vote in the 2012 election).

The same bill eliminates Sunday voting.

According to Progress NC, (a local nonprofit that promotes fair public policies), eliminating Sunday voting would directly affect black voters.

According to Daily Kos, over 10,000 black North Carolinians took advantage of Sunday voting this past November.

Require ex-felons to wait five years before having their right to vote restored.

According to data from the Brennan Center, this change would make North Carolina the 12th most restrictive state in the country.

North Carolinians that live, work, raise families and contribute to their communities will be denied their right to vote.

These bills represent one of the broadest attacks on voting rights this year.

The problem goes deeper than North Carolina: While the Tar Heel state is currently facing numerous attempts at suppressing the vote, similar bills are being revealed in state legislatures across the country.

At the same time North Carolina is waiting for the Supreme Court reviews of two of its biggest voting rights cases in history, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, both of which would affect the voting rights of all Americans.

The current Supreme Court cases coupled with the voter suppression bills proposed in North Carolina serve as a powerful reminder that we must continually fight to protect our right to vote.

We’re hopeful that other states will follow the lead of civil and voting rights groups in North Carolina, including LWVNC, and continue to push to ensure that our elections are free, fair and accessible for all eligible voters.