ACLU and Southern Coalition for Social Justice Will Appeal Ruling in North Carolina Voting Lawsuit
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — The American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Coalition for Social Justice will appeal last night's federal trial court ruling upholding provisions of North Carolina's restrictive voting law. The groups filed paperwork today announcing their intention to appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
"Thousands of voters in North Carolina could be pushed to the sidelines of the upcoming election because of this discriminatory law. That is wrong, illegal, and why we are appealing," said Dale Ho, director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project.
The ACLU and Southern Coalition for Social Justice are challenging provisions of the law that eliminate a week of early voting, end same-day registration, and prohibit the counting of out-of-precinct ballots. Thousands of North Carolinians, disproportionately African-Americans, have relied on those provisions to cast their votes in past elections. The groups charge the law violates the U.S. Constitution's Equal Protection Clause and the Voting Rights Act.
"We plan to move as quickly as possible to ensure that the Fourth Circuit has time to correct this egregious error before the November election," said Southern Coalition for Social Justice senior attorney Allison Riggs.
The ACLU, ACLU of North Carolina, and Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed the lawsuit in 2013 on behalf of several plaintiffs, including the League of Women Voters of North Carolina, the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute, North Carolina Common Cause, and Unifour Onestop Collaborative, and several individuals.
More information is at: https://www.aclu.org/cases/league-women-voters-north-carolina-et-al-v-north-carolina
