Changes target voting options preferred by African-American voters RALEIGH, N.C. – With the passage of SB 325, the North Carolina General Assembly has approved changes to the state’s early voting procedures whose limitations would likely disproportionately affect African American voters and put greater strain on election resources in rural communities. The bill mandates that early […]
SCSJ challenges NC law that punishes returning citizens with felonies for voting while ineligible
On June 8, 2018, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed motions to dismiss on behalf of five clients in Alamance County who were charged with voting while being ineligible due to a criminal conviction. In our the motions, SCSJ asks the court to recognize the unconstitutionality of the criminal statute that allows the state […]
SCSJ Statement Regarding Proposed North Carolina Voter ID Constitutional Amendment
RALEIGH, N.C. – On June 7, 2018, North Carolina Speaker of the House Rep. Tim Moore introduced HB 1092, a constitutional amendment that would require voters in the state to present photo identification before voting. If the legislation passes both chambers of the General Assembly by a three-fifths margin, the amendment would go on the November ballot. […]
Press Release: Voters Urge U.S. Supreme Court to Agree that North Carolina Congressional Map is an Unconstitutional Partisan Gerrymander
WASHINGTON – Plaintiffs in North Carolina’s partisan gerrymandering challenge, League of Women Voters of North Carolina v. Rucho, filed a motion with the U.S. Supreme Court today asking the court to affirm the lower court’s ruling that found the entire state’s plan to be an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. In February, the Supreme Court denied expedited briefing in […]
SCSJ at the U.S. Supreme Court
The Southern Coalition for Social Justice hit a milestone this week. Allison Riggs, our Senior Voting Rights Attorney, argued a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Abbott v. Perez is a redistricting case out of Texas where voters of color were either packed or cracked into districts to minimize their political power. It was wrong. […]
Press Release: Voters File Federal Court Challenge to Voter Intimidation Efforts in Virginia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 12, 2018 Contact: Dustin Chicurel-Bayard, dustin@scsj.org, 919.323.4051 Mackenzie Long, mlong@wearerally.com, 916.524.3197 Voters File Federal Court Challenge to Voter Intimidation Efforts in Virginia Voter intimidation violates Ku Klux Klan Act, created in 1871 to protect voters from being harassed when attempting to register or vote ALEXANDRIA, VA – Voters subjected […]
Press Release: Voters File Federal Court Challenge to Voter Intimidation Efforts in Virginia
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 12, 2018 Contact: Dustin Chicurel-Bayard, dustin@scsj.org, 919.323.4051 Mackenzie Long, mlong@wearerally.com, 916.524.3197 Voters File Federal Court Challenge to Voter Intimidation Efforts in Virginia Voter intimidation violates Ku Klux Klan Act, created in 1871 to protect voters from being harassed when attempting to register or vote ALEXANDRIA, VA – Voters subjected […]
Voting Rights Advocates Seek New Districts in Wake County for the 2018 Election
RALEIGH, N.C. — The Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a redistricting challenge in Wake County Superior Court today arguing that the 2017 changes to four Wake County State House Districts violate the state constitution’s prohibition against mid-decade redistricting; asking the court to prevent the illegally altered Wake County districts in the legislature’s 2017 plan […]
Plaintiffs Quick to Seek Relief in State Court after U.S. Supreme Court Action
RALEIGH, N.C. – Plaintiffs in a state court redistricting challenge have asked a three-judge panel in Wake County Superior Court to order new districts into effect that comply with the North Carolina Constitution. The motion comes less than 24 hours after the U.S. Supreme Court ordered that districts drawn by a Special Master that remedy racially […]
U.S. Supreme Court Orders into Effect Fixes for Racially Gerrymandered Districts for 2018 Election
Puts hold on some of the Special Master’s districts related to state constitutional violations WASHINGTON, D.C. – This evening the U.S. Supreme Court refused to block a district court’s order that remedied racially gerrymandered districts that were first enacted in the state’s 2011 redistricting plan and would have been perpetuated by the legislature’s 2017 plan. […]
Court Orders Special Master’s Recommended Districts Incorporated into State Legislative Redistricting Plan to Correct Constitutional Flaws
Court-ordered maps are now law GREENSBORO, N.C. – A panel of three federal court judges has issued a unanimous order that incorporates the recommendations of the court-appointed Special Master, Dr. Nathan Persily, into North Carolina’s state legislative districts. The Dr. Persily was asked to alter nine state legislative districts after the Court identified that the 2017 […]
Supreme Court Grants North Carolina’s Application to Delay Redrawing of Electoral Maps, Putting Fair Elections in North Carolina in Jeopardy For 2018 Election
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, the Supreme Court said North Carolina does not have to redraw its congressional voting maps by January 29, as a federal district court ordered on January 9 when it struck down the 2016 map as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. Campaign Legal Center (CLC) and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) represent the League […]
Filed: Request for U.S. Supreme Court to allow congressional redistricting to move forward
On Wednesday, January 17, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed plaintiffs’ response to the emergency stay application to the U.S. Supreme Court, on behalf of the League of Women Voters of NC. The response we just filed with the court can be found at http://bit.ly/LWVOpposition Feel free to read the brief in full, but here […]
Analysis of N.C. Judicial Redistricting Proposal Finds Racial and Partisan Biases
DURHAM, N.C. – A white paper released today by the Southern Coalition for Social Justice documents some of the racial and partisan biases infecting the most recent judicial redistricting plan presented by a state legislative committee. Draft judicial districts unveiled in the December meeting of the Senate Select Committee on Judicial Reform and Redistricting covered […]
Federal Courts Strikes Down North Carolina Congressional Plan as Unconstitutional Partisan Gerrymander
GREENSBORO, N.C. – A federal three-judge panel for North Carolina’s Middle District has struck down North Carolina’s 2016 congressional plan as an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander. That 2016 plan was developed after a federal court invalidated two congressional districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders. When the legislature purported to “remedy” that racial gerrymandered plan with an unabashed […]
Virginia NAACP argues that election administration error harmed black voters
RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia State Conference NAACP submitted an amicus brief today with the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in support of an emergency appeal filed in the House District 28 election case, arguing that a failure to call for a new election would harm voters of color. Hundreds of voters in Virginia’s House […]
Judge Orders Winterville Election Results Stand
WINTERVILLE, N.C. – Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway decided from the bench on Friday, December 29, 2017, that the Pitt County Board of Elections exceeded its power when it revoked the 2017 Winterville Town Council election certification. The order found that the initial certificate of election must stand and that Ricky Hines, the […]