Local chapter of ACLU to host Oct. 17 panel about NC’s new voting law

Press release

From the Western North Carolina Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union:

ASHEVILLE – On October 17, 2013, the Western North Carolina Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) will host “Fighting Back Against Voter Suppression,” a panel conversation about North Carolina’s new election law. This discussion will focus on efforts by the ACLU, the federal Department of Justice, and other groups to challenge what many observers consider the harshest voter suppression law in the nation.

WHAT: Panel discussion about efforts to combat North Carolina’s voter suppression law

WHO: Speakers will include:
Chris Brook, Legal Director, ACLU of North Carolina
Sarah Zambon, Voting Rights and Education and Outreach Coordinator, League of Women Voters of Asheville-Buncombe County
Tyrone Greenlee, community activist and Director of Christians for a United Community

WHEN: 7:30 to 9 p.m., October 17, 2013

WHERE: UNC-Asheville, Humanities Lecture Hall, Asheville, NC 28804

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of North Carolina Legal Foundation, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, and the League of Women Voters filed a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s voter suppression law on August 12. The suit specifically targets provisions of the law that eliminate a week of early voting, end same-day registration, and prohibit “out-of-precinct” voting. It seeks to stop North Carolina from enacting these provisions, arguing that they would unduly burden the right to vote and discriminate against African-American voters, in violation of the U.S. Constitution’s equal protection clause and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The ACLU of North Carolina is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to preserving and expanding the guarantees of individual liberty found in the United States and North Carolina Constitutions and related federal and state civil rights laws. With more than 10,000 members and supporters throughout the state and an office located in Raleigh, the organization achieves its mission through advocacy, public education, community outreach, and when necessary, litigation.

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