On Sunday, June 5, Democracy North Carolina held a conference in Durham led by Adam Sotak to discuss developing bills that are threatening equal voting rights. If passed, these NC bills will:
- Require voters to show a government-issued photo ID when they vote. This will create a new barrier to voting for 450,000 NC citizens, mostly seniors, low-income voters, women, youth and African Americans.
- End Sunday voting, even though 37,000 citizens used it in 2008. This will explicitly affect African American churches and the Souls to the Polls campaign.
- Reduce the days and hours in the Early Voting period, even though 60 percent of all NC voters used this option in 2008.
- Stop voters from registering during Early Voting by eliminating Same-Day Registration, a right used by 250,000 NC voters in 2008.
- Stop pre-registration for teenagers, even though 37,500 future voters used the program in 2010 to signal their desire to be active citizens.
- End the NC Public Campaign Fund that gives voters more diversity in their choice of top judges and provides statewide judicial candidates a way to run without accepting big donations from special interests.
To take action, contact your legislators at 919.733.4111 and tell them that you oppose these changes, or visit www.democracy-nc.org for more ways to get involved.
Information courtesy of Democracy North Carolina.