Cohen Applauds DOJ Lawsuit to Prevent Voter Suppression and Racial Discrimination in North Carolina

[MEMPHIS, TN] – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) today applauded a new U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) lawsuit seeking to prevent racial discrimination in North Carolina’s new voting rules. In addition to other restrictions that will make it harder for North Carolina residents to exercise their Constitutionally-protected right to vote, the state’s new law imposes tough voter identification requirements that are expected to adversely affect minority groups more than others.

“Make no mistake, the recent ruling by the Supreme Court that gutted an essential provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act was an affront to civil rights in this country,” said Congressman Cohen. “While Congress works to address the Supreme Court’s decision, I am glad that Attorney General Holder is not waiting for even more discrimination against minorities before using every tool at his disposal to aggressively fight for the civil and human rights that we fought for decades to obtain.”

Advocates of North Carolina’s new voting restrictions argue that the measures are necessary to combat voting fraud, though the Associated Press reports that “such crimes are infrequent.” Additionally, while voter fraud remains a rare occurrence, a North Carolinian without the identification required under the law is much more common: a recent state survey found that hundreds of thousands of registered voters in the state, including many poor, elderly, or African American voters, did not possess the necessary state-issued identification.

The DOJ’s lawsuit challenges provisions of the North Carolina law that limit the number of early voting days, end same-day voter registration, prevent the counting of certain provisional ballots, and require voters to present identification at the polls before being allowed to cast their ballot. This move by the DOJ carries additional weight in light of a recent Supreme Court ruling that left important provisions of the Voting Rights Act in limbo and raised questions about whether the civil rights of millions of Americans—including minority groups who have historically been oppressed—would remain protected. Last month, the DOJ also filed a lawsuit challenging the Constitutionality of a new Texas voter photo identification law (SB 14).