On Tuesday, Nov. 27, the lame duck N.C. General Assembly will return to Raleigh for a special session to provide relief to Hurricane Florence survivors and fill in the details of certain constitutional amendments — including a vaguely-worded photo voter ID requirement.
While the legislature’s entire session agenda is not yet clear, we anticipate their plans could include an aggressive effort to revive some version of the restrictive photo ID mandate they sought in the 2013 “Monster Voting Law.” This law, drafted by many of the same legislature leaders, excluded common forms of photo identification like student IDs, workplace IDs, public benefit IDs, and most expired IDs. A federal appeals court struck down that requirement because it found that lawmakers acted with “discriminatory intent” when they drafted it— specifically by targeting voters of color “with almost surgical precision” when they determined what IDs would be accepted at the polls.
We believe no eligible North Carolina voter should be denied the right to cast a ballot. And we’ll continue fighting unnecessary barriers to voting access. But the ID rules created during this special session will shape which citizens can genuinely exercise their right to vote, and which will have to overcome poorly justified obstacles to do the same.
If you agree — there are 3 ways you can act right now:
(1) contact your lawmakers now and demand a process that protects eligible voters;
(2) RSVP now for the Democracy and Accountability Day of Action on Nov. 27 holding lawmakers accountable to their promise to protect Hurricane Florence survivors specifically and North Carolina voters broadly; and
(3) invest in the fight for voting access in North Carolina by donating to Democracy North Carolina.