@NCCapitol

NAACP, others seek sit-down with McCrory

The group behind the "Moral Monday" protests has requested a meeting with Gov. Pat McCrory about the elections changes bill.

Posted Updated

By
Laura Leslie
RALEIGH, N.C. — The group behind the so-called "Moral Monday" protests has requested a meeting with Gov. Pat McCrory about the elections changes bill.
State NAACP President Rev. William Barber asked McCrory in a letter last Thursday to veto House Bill 589, the elections omnibus that includes voter identification requirements and host of other major changes to state voting and campaign laws.
"We understand you are presently considering the bill, to make what will be a historic decision to sign or veto it," Barber writes in the letter "As you know, we and perhaps 80 percent of North Carolina voters believe it to be one of the most restrictive and regressive attacks on minority, elderly and young people's voting rights seen in this nation since the end of Reconstruction and the implementation of Jim Crow at the turn of the 20th Century.

"We hope you will take the time to do a complete review of the extremist positions that were thrown together in this bill," he writes. "As you make this review, we respectfully request you meet with members of the Forward Together Movement before you decide about whether or not to veto it."

Barber said Monday that follow-up calls to the Governor's Office have not been successful.

At a press conference on the final day of legislative session, July 26, McCrory said he would sign the bill. But when questioned by a reporter about other parts of the bill, McCrory admitted he was not familiar with all of it.
The elections bill is one of 38 currently on McCrory's desk. The governor has until 11:59 p.m. on Aug. 25 to take action on them. If he doesn't sign or veto them, they will become law without his signature.  

Organizers were holding a "Mountain Moral Monday" protest in Asheville Monday evening. 

McCrory said in June that he had no wish to meet with the protesters. Last month, he told the Wilson Times he "go[es] out in the crowd all the time" at the protests, but there have been no reports of any such appearances.

Copyright 2024 by Capitol Broadcasting Company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.