RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The swing state of North Carolina could be pushed in a Republican or Democratic direction when the GOP-led State Board of Elections meets Thursday to finalize early voting plans for a third of the state’s counties.
Voting rights activists are watching closely and preparing to return to court if the board makes it harder for reliably Democratic voters to cast ballots. They say this would violate a federal appellate ruling that found Republican leaders intentionally discriminated against African-Americans with a 2013 law designed to keep the GOP in power despite being outnumbered.
“For three years the NAACP and its partners have fought for this moment to come, and certain people with the boards of elections locally and statewide do not wish to recognize that it’s our time and our vote,” said Deborah Dicks Maxwell, the NAACP chairwoman in New Hanover County.
Republican leaders deny they’re discriminating against anyone, and say Democrats are seeking to regain their own advantage by criticizing plans that were re-drawn in response to the July 29 ruling. Democrats have offered opposing plans, setting up disputes in a third of North Carolina’s 100 counties that now must be resolved by the state board, which has a 3-2 Republican majority.
Democrats should “quit whining, put on your uniform and play the game,” state GOP Chairman Robin Hayes said Tuesday.