Full announcement from the Advancement Project:
Washington, D.C. – – Anticipating North Carolina seniors and voters of color may face difficulty casting a ballot following passage of one of the most restrictive and regressive voting measures in decades, Advancement Project and the North Carolina NAACP State Conference recently launched a voter education hotline, 1.855.NO.ID.4.US (1.855.664.3487). The hotline will permit individuals who believe they will have difficulty voting under the new law to leave their contact information and receive a follow-up call within 24 hours on behalf of the NC NAACP.
“Election Day is the one time we are all equal and elected officials should not pass laws that make it harder for some people to cast a ballot,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda Hair. “Unless this bill is repealed or an injunction filed preventing its implementation, voting in North Carolina will become a test of might for certain voters and impossible for others.”
The recently passed voting measure will:
· Implement a strict voter ID requirement;
· Cut early voting by a full week;
· Eliminate same-day registration;
· Allow voters to be challenged by any registered voter in the same county, rather than precinct;
· Ban 16 and 17-year-olds from pre-registering to vote;
· Repeal a state directive that high schools conduct voter registration drives;
· Prohibit paid voter registration drives; and
· Prevent counties from extending poll hours to accommodate long lines.
“Each of these changes, on their own, would already be considerably harmful to the voting rights of North Carolinians,” said Hair. “Taken together, this is the worst voter suppression law in the country. With the stroke of a pen, Gov. McCrory has transformed North Carolina from a state with one of the nation’s most progressive voting systems, in which we saw some of the highest voter turnout rates of the last two presidential elections, into a state with the most draconian policies we’ve seen in decades.”
Persons lacking a current North Carolina driver’s license or people whose name on their ID is different from their birth certificate should use the hotline. Individuals who normally use early voting should also use the hotline as should people who believe it will be difficult to get to the DMV to obtain an ID. For more information, please contact Jennifer Farmer at 202.728.9557, ext. 341 or via email at jfarmer@advancementproject.org.
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