Voting Rights

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Voting Rights

Voting Rights Organizations Provide Guidance to North Carolina Counties on Addressing Potential Early Voting Issues

Durham, N.C. — As North Carolina counties begin planning for the 2020 General Election, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Democracy North Carolina have started sending letters to the boards of elections in 27 counties offering information and research on how best to serve voters in their communities amid funding and public health concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Letters to 33 additional counties will be sent in the coming weeks.
Justice
Voting Rights

Wayne County Board of Elections Upholds Election of Challenged Minority Candidate

Durham, N.C. — By a decision of 3-2 following a formal hearing, the Wayne County Board of Elections upheld Bevan Julius Foster’s win in the Wayne County Board of Commissioners District 3 Democratic Primary, which was held March 3, 2020. Foster, a Black man who previously served on the Goldsboro City Council, won the primary with 40.78% of the votes. His win was challenged by three people who alleged he did not reside in the district he would be representing, and thus was not eligible to run.
Public Interest
Voting Rights

SCSJ’s Chief Counsel for Voting Rights and Interim Executive Director Wins 2020 David Carliner Public Interest Award

Durham, N.C. — Allison Riggs, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Chief Counsel for Voting Rights and Interim Executive Director, has been selected as one of two winners of the David Carliner Public Interest Award for her innovative work and commitment to protecting civil and human rights. The award, presented annually by the American Constitution Society, honors a mid-career public interest attorney who exemplifies fearless, uncompromising and creative advocacy on behalf of marginalized people.
Voting during COVID
Voting Rights

Voting Rights Organizations Seek Preliminary Injunction to Guarantee Voter Safety in November

Durham, N.C. — On behalf of Democracy North Carolina, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina and eight individual voters, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Fair Elections Center and pro bono counsel from law firm WilmerHale have formally requested that a federal court temporarily amend some of the state’s voting laws to guarantee that North Carolinians can vote safely in November’s general election in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Voting Rights

Voting Rights Organizations File Federal Lawsuit to Ensure North Carolina Holds Fair, Safe Elections in November

Durham, N.C. — On behalf of Democracy North Carolina, the League of Women Voters of North Carolina and six individual voters, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, Fair Elections Center and pro bono counsel from law firm WilmerHale have filed a lawsuit demanding North Carolina take the necessary steps to guarantee a fair, safe election in November, given the likelihood that the state and the country will still be experiencing the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Voting Rights

Southern Coalition for Social Justice and Dēmos Represent Parties Seeking to Prevent Voter Purges in Election Year

Durham, N.C. — The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) and Dēmos, representing the League of Women Voters of North Carolina (LWVNC) and the North Carolina A. Philip Randolph Institute (NC APRI), have moved to intervene in a lawsuit seeking the mass removal of individuals from voter rolls in Mecklenburg and Guilford counties. These critical civic engagement groups are seeking to intervene as defendants in Judicial Watch v. North Carolina, et al, a case filed in federal court earlier this month in which Judicial Watch is seeking the unjustified purge of thousands of registered voters in the run-up to this November’s presidential election.
Voting Rights

Southern Coalition for Social Justice Files Amicus Brief To Help Protect North Carolina Voters From Intimidation

Durham, N.C. — The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) has filed a brief of amici curiae (“friend of the Court” brief) in support of the defendants in Public Interest Legal Foundation v. North Carolina State Board of Elections, which is currently pending in front of the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit. SCSJ filed the brief on behalf of the Association of Mexicans in North America, Inc., El Pueblo, Inc. and North Carolina Asian Americans Together, nonprofit organizations that advocate on behalf of minority populations across North Carolina, seeking to highlight for the appeals court the risk to voters of color if the decision below is not affirmed.
Voting Rights

North Carolina Court of Appeals Blocks Voter ID Law in Key Win for Southern Coalition for Social Justice

Durham, N.C. — The North Carolina Court of Appeals yesterday issued a key decision in Holmes v. Moore, blocking the state’s voter ID law from taking effect until the trial of the case has concluded. The lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of S.B. 824, which was passed in December 2018 following the approval of a state constitutional amendment requiring people in North Carolina to present an ID before voting.
General

SCSJ Launches CROWD Academies To Protect Voting Rights of Communities of Color During Post-2020 Census Redistricting Process

The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) is partnering with community organizations in six states to offer in-depth training sessions to educate community organizers on the redistricting process and potential voting rights violations following the 2020 census. Community Redistricting Organizations Working for Democracy (CROWD) Academies will equip individuals and organizations with tools to monitor and engage with redistricting processes at every level of government, spot warning signs and take action if decisions are likely to infringe on the right to an equal opportunity to participate in elections.
Voting Rights

Plaintiffs in North Carolina Voter ID Lawsuit Seek Documents On Legislative Motivations Behind Challenged Law

Durham, N.C. — Plaintiffs in Holmes v. Moore, a lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s voter ID requirements (S.B. 824), filed a motion in Wake County Superior Court earlier today asking a judge to compel the General Assembly to release communications between legislators and General Assembly staff relating to the design of and motivations behind S.B. 824. The motion also requests access to any other materials outside of the public legislative record that the North Carolina House of Representatives and Senate used when drafting the statute. State legislators have previously refused to turn over these documents as part of the lawsuit’s discovery process, citing legislative privilege.
Voting Rights

SCSJ Represents Democracy North Carolina in Amicus Brief Urging State Court to Reject State’s Proposed Remedy Maps

Late Friday, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice submitted an amicus brief on behalf of Democracy North Carolina urging a three-judge state court panel in Common Cause v. Lewis to reject the “remedial” State Senate and House redistricting plans enacted by the General Assembly a little over a week ago. SCSJ and Democracy NC argued that those plans fail to eliminate the partisan bias that led the court to invalidate the prior plans as unconstitutional partisan gerrymanders.