Demos Urges North Carolina Governor To Reject Restrictive Voting Legislation
(NEW YORK, NY) – In the wake of the recent passage of disastrous legislation that would repeal North Carolina’s successful Same Day Registration policy and implement barriers to voting, Demos President Miles Rapoport issued the following statement:
“Yesterday, the North Carolina legislature turned back the clock on the freedom to vote to the pre-civil rights era. Its repeal of Same Day Registration (SDR); drastic reduction of early voting; imposition of a strict, government-issued photo ID requirement for voting; and other rollbacks will create huge new barriers to the vote for thousands of North Carolinians.”
“These extreme measures will fall most heavily on African Americans and other communities of color. Forty-one percent of the 250,000 North Carolinians who used SDR to register and vote in the 2012 presidential election were African American. Nearly half of African Americans who voted last November did so during the early voting period. And study after study has shown that people of color are less likely than others to have current driver’s licenses, the most common form of photo identification.
“In addition, imposition of a five-year wait before formerly incarcerated people may regain their voting rights repeals the progress North Carolina has made in recent years to reintegrate citizens back into society.”
“These laws are an example of the ultra-conservative agenda funded by mega-donor, Art Pope. As the Supreme Court readies to debate the McCutcheon v. FEC case, North Carolina sets itself up as a prime example for the need to maintain national aggregate limits. Pope has long been influencing state policy through massive campaign donations. Striking down these limits would open a flood-gate of possibilities and unleash the Art Popes of the world to buy and sell elections across the country.”
“I urge Governor McCrory to veto this legislation and reject this extreme agenda that aims to disenfranchise hundreds of thousands of voters. It is our responsibility to hold our nation to a higher standard, setting a global example of a vibrant democracy where all citizens can actively participate in choices that affect their everyday lives.”
Demos has worked for ten years to champion solutions to a variety of critical voting rights issues, including work to pass Same Day Registration legislation in thirteen states and the District of Columbia. SDR is a part of Demos’ ongoing work to ensure that all are afforded an equal say in our democracy. Demos is a public policy organization working for an America where we all have an equal say in our democracy and an equal chance in our economy.
For more information on where Same Day Registration is available, see Demos’ Same Day Registration: What is it? Where is it available?
To speak with Steven Carbó or other Demos experts, contact:
Elektra Gray
Communications Director
(212) 485-6014
