The North Carolina NAACP wants a federal judge to stop the photo-ID requirement, the Voter Information Verification Act, from taking effect during the March 2016 primary elections.
Attorneys for the civil-rights organization filed court papers indicating that they planned to seek a preliminary injunction. The photo-ID requirement was passed along with a number of other provisions in a sweeping elections law that Gov. Pat McCrory signed in August 2013.
This will be the second time the state NAACP has sought a preliminary injunction over the controversial elections law. The group sought one last year.
The NAACP and others, including the U.S. Department of Justice, filed a lawsuit in 2013 against McCrory and the state. They allege that the law, which also eliminated same-day voter registration and reduced the days of early voting from 17 to 10, placed undue burdens on blacks, Hispanics, poor people and college students. They said the law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and is unconstitutional.
Earlier this year, state Republican legislators moved the primaries from May to March. This year will also include a presidential primary, which will likely attract more voters to the polls.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder denied a motion by state attorneys to dismiss legal claims against the photo-ID requirement. Schroeder had delayed legal proceedings on the photo ID requirement ahead of a federal trial this summer. The trial focused on the other provisions of the law.
Schroeder made his decision after state Republican legislators amended the requirement so that voters can sign a “reasonable impediment” declaration if they couldn’t obtain a photo ID. The amendment also made allowances for people with expired photo IDs, as long as they hadn’t expired more than four years prior.
Attorneys for the NAACP have said that they still believe the photo-ID requirement is discriminatory and that the state has not done enough to publicize the change.
They argue that black voters have disproportionately lower literacy rates and might be confused by the “reasonable impediment” declaration process.
Plaintiffs also said the state has yet to show how county elections officials will be trained to implement the new photo-ID requirement.
State attorneys said elections officials wanted to wait until after the municipal elections earlier this month before starting to publicize the change and to train elections workers.
Victoria Wenger, a spokeswoman for some of the plaintiffs’ attorneys, said that she doesn’t know exactly when the preliminary injunction will be filed, but it will be soon.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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