North Carolina Voter Law To Be Challenged By Justice Department, Eric Holder Says

[Cali_Democrat]

WASHINGTON -- North Carolina Republicans passed a restrictive voting law earlier this year "with the purpose of denying or abridging the right of African Americans to vote on account of their race or color," the Justice Department charged in a lawsuit filed Monday.

The lawsuit, filed by attorneys within DOJ's Civil Rights Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of North Carolina, was announced by Attorney General Eric Holder at Justice Department headquarters on Monday. Federal officials argued that, based on North Carolina's own data, four changes to the law -- eliminating several days of early voting, eliminating same-day voter registration, prohibiting the counting of certain provisional ballots and requiring specific forms of photo identification -- would have a discriminatory impact on minority voters.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/09/30/north-carolina-voter-law_n_4017647.html

Oh did you also see this?

Justice Department opens investigation into JP Morgan Chase manipulation of energy markets.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023493385

Or this?

JP Morgan Chase (the nation's largest bank) is being investigated by the DOJ over mortgages

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023424028

Or this?

JPMorgan faces criminal and civil probes over mortgages

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023424416

Or this?

Bank Of America Goes To Trial Over Mortgage Fraud Charges - Reuters/HuffPo

http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023724279

Good stuff, huh?

[Cali_Democrat]

1. Comments?

[Cali_Democrat]

2. Anyone?

[JRLeft]

3. I doubt the 5 fascists on the Supreme Court stand up for righteousness.

[Gothmog]

4. Great News. I have read the lawsuit and notice something interesting

I know a great deal about the Texas voter id law and remember that some posters from North Carolina were upset that the DOJ filed against Texas first. After reading the petition, I can see why Texas was first. You can read the petition here http://big.assets.huffingtonpost.com/dojnclawsuit.pdf I have read the section dealing with voter ID and found that the North Carolina law as described in the DOJ petition is actually more liberal than the Texas voter id law (SB 14) in a number of key aspects. For example, the North Carolina law allows Veteran’s cards and indian tribe identifications to be used:

………(5) a Veteran’s identification card issued by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs; (6) a tribal enrollment card issued by a federally- or State-recognized tribe;

The Texas voter ID law does not allow for these forms of identification but does provided that conceal carry permits are acceptable.

Next, the North Carolina law exempts persons over 70 from having identifications that is current on the voter’s 70th birthday:

Voters who are 70 years of age and older are exempted from the requirement that the photo identification be unexpired; however, the photo identification they present must have been unexpired on the voter’s 70th birthday.

In Texas, the free id, i.e., the Election Identification Certificate, issued to a voter who is 70 years or older does not expire while EICs issued to other voters do expire.

Third, voters with disabilities are treated differently. In North Carolina is a voter qualifies for curbside assistance, then that voter can present forms of identification that are acceptable under the Help America Vote Act which includes ultility bills and other correspondence:

(3) registered voters who qualify to cast a ballot curbside because of age or physical disability. The voters in at least the last category must show one of the forms of identification approved by the HAVA for first-time voters who register by mail

In, Texas only voters who are more than 50% disabled according to the Social Security Administration or the Veteran’s Administration and who submit paper documenting such disability to the county voter registrar can meet the disability exemption.

Finally, under the North Carolina law, the counties are required to provide free birth certificates to any voter who requests a birth certificate in order to get the free identification from the state:

Further, although HB 589 requires a North Carolina register of deeds to issue without charge a certified copy of a birth certificate or marriage license to any registered voter who declares that he or she needs the document to obtain a photo identification in order to vote, it does not address any fees that will be imposed on voters who will have to obtain the requisite underlying documentation from out-of-state agencies.

In Texas there is no provision for free birth certificates.

The North Carolina law is actually a more liberal law compared to the Texas law and the DOJ still sued. To me, this means that Texas may have a harder time justifying SB14 given that the Texas voter id law is far stricter than the North Carolina law in many respects. The fact that the DOJ has a court ruling that the Texas act adversely affects the voting rights of minorities combined with the fact that the Texas voter id law is a much stricter law explains why the DOJ filed suit in Texas first.

[1-Old-Man]

5. What got Holder up off his ass?