FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 2, 2021MEDIA CONTACTS:Sailor Jones, Communications Director, sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906Hilary Harris Klein, Voting Rights Counsel, hilary@scsj.org, 919-794-4198 ext. 119 DURHAM, N.C. (August 2, 2021) — A coalition of North Carolina voting rights organizations are demanding an open process for drawing the state’s legislative and Congressional districts, outlined in a redistricting recommendations letter emailed […]
NC REPORT: Process to Fix Mail-in Ballots Saved Tens of Thousands of Votes in 2020
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 29, 2021Media Contacts: Sailor Jones, 919-260-5906, sailor@scsj.orgGino Nuzzolillo, 402-415-4763, gino@scsj.org DURHAM, N.C. (July 29, 2021) — North Carolina’s 2020 mail-in “cure” process allowed nearly 20,000 North Carolinians to have their votes counted in the general election, according to a new report from Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ). In August 2020, […]
OP-ED: Gov. Abbott’s Attacks on Texas’ Checks and Balances Will Not Go Unchecked
Read the League of Women Voters of Texas’ recent op-ed HERE. Angry at his party’s failure to pass a sweeping anti-voter law, last month Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed a new state budget that defunds the entire state legislature. The move endangers our democracy, undermines the will of Texans, and attacks the constitutional checks and […]
OP-ED: Arrested for voting? Hervis Rogers and the case against disappearing our voters.
Read SCSJ’s Equal Justice Works Fellow Mitchell Brown’s Houston Chronicle op-ed HERE. Last week, when Attorney General Ken Paxton arrested Hervis Rogers for allegedly casting an illegal ballot, he did so knowing that Rogers is considered an American hero. Rogers made national headlines after waiting more than six hours to vote at a Houston polling place […]
SCSJ Responds to Supreme Court Decision to Deny State Relief Under the Voting Rights Act
SCSJ: “Today, the Supreme Court ignored the impact of Arizona’s racist, anti-voter legislation” Durham, N.C. (July 1, 2021) — A ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court today denied challenges to two election restrictions in Arizona and narrowed the application of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act without foreclosing the possibility to bring future claims. […]
SCSJ Amicus Brief in Brnovich v. DNC
In January 2021, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a “friend of the court” brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Brnovich v. DNC on behalf of four A. Philip Randolph Institute (APRI) chapters dedicated to defending voting rights across the South. As stated in the brief’s opening […]
OP-ED: NC Senate’s proposed budget includes measures that could undermine fair elections
Read SCSJ Executive Director and Chief Counsel for Voting Rights Allison Riggs’s Raleigh News & Observer op-ed HERE. ___________________________________________________________________________________ State Senators, sent to Raleigh to pass a budget that addresses North Carolinians’ needs, have just advanced new anti-voter proposals in a fiscal plan with lasting impacts on the freedom to vote. The latest version of […]
SCSJ Responds to NC Senate Passage of Anti-Voter Bills
RALEIGH, N.C. (6.16.2021) — The North Carolina Senate today advanced three bills that would slash mail-in voting deadlines, create a redundant online voter registration system, and bar elections boards from accepting grant funding. The bills, which passed along party lines, now head to the House for consideration. Allison Riggs, Co-Executive Director and Chief Counsel for […]
Southern Coalition for Social Justice Joins N.C. Voting Rights Advocates to Oppose Anti-Voter Bills
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 14, 2021CONTACT: Sailor Jones, sailor@scsj.org, 919-260-5906 RALEIGH, N.C. (June 14, 2021) — Voting rights advocates converged on the grounds of the N.C. General Assembly on Monday for a press conference to speak out against Senate Bills 326, 724, and 725 as lawmakers ramp up efforts to restrict access to the ballot. […]
Southern Coalition for Social Justice Responds to Senate Bill 724’s Fast-tracked Changes to Online Voter Registration
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: June 9, 2021CONTACT: Sailor Jones, (919) 260-5906, sailor@scsj.org DURHAM (June 9, 2021) — North Carolina-based voting rights group Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) responded today to Senate Bill 724, one of a slate of Republican voting-related changes being fast-tracked in the North Carolina legislature. The bill not only invests in NC’s enjoined […]
OP-ED: North Carolinians have the right to know the truth about those seeking their sensitive voter information
North Carolinians have the right to know the truth about who is seeking their sensitive voter information
Protecting Against the Onslaught of Voter Suppression Efforts in the States: A Statement from the Voting Rights Working Group
READ THE FULL STATEMENT. (May 18, 2021) — As a nation, we have a shared commitment and responsibility to protect the voices and the rights of American voters. Our systems of democracy are made stronger when we all are respected and heard. A representative and effective government starts with free and fair access to the vote. […]
4th Circuit Upholds Right to Privacy in Lawsuit Requesting NC Voter Information
SCSJ: “We are grateful for the Court’s clear requirements to protect these voters’ identities.” Durham, N.C. (May 11, 2021) — In a ruling issued on May 10, the United States Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit sent a lawsuit requesting significant, detailed information on registered voters in several North Carolina counties back to the […]
Southern Coalition for Social Justice Responds to Slate of Anti-Voter N.C. Legislation
SCSJ: “We vehemently oppose these latest legislative efforts to attack the freedom to vote and vow to continue pushing back from the committee room to the courtroom.” DURHAM, N.C. (5.6.2021) — North Carolina lawmakers are advancing three bills that would slash mail-in voting deadlines, expand the power of partisan poll watchers, and bar elections boards […]
SCSJ Co-Executive Director to Testify in Front of Congress about Voting Rights and the 2020 Election
Durham, N.C. — Allison Riggs, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice’s Chief Counsel for Voting Rights and Co-Executive Director, will testify in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on House Administration’s Subcommittee on Elections for the 117th Congress on Thursday, April 1, at noon.
SCSJ’s CROWD Academies Return in Time for Critical Post-2020 Census Redistricting Process
Durham, N.C. — Continuing its efforts launched last year, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) will partner with community organizations to offer in-depth training sessions to educate community organizers on the redistricting process and advocating for fair maps for communities of color in 2021-2022 redistricting efforts.
Statement on Election Protection Litigation Brought During the 2020 Elections
Durham, N.C. — Members of the Voting Rights Working Group issue the following statement about its election protection litigation for the 2020 elections.
As Georgia Election Nears, Coalition Demands That Facebook, State Dept. Protect Poll Workers, Stop Proliferation of Violence Online
A new letter released today by a coalition of more than 60 progressive groups is urging that Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg, COO Sheryl Sandberg and Director of External Affairs Lindsay Elin stop right-wing extremists from harassing and violently threatening poll workers leading up to Georgia’s runoff Senate election on January 5th, 2021.