Speakers at hearing urge Congress to restore Voting Rights Act

A congressional subcommittee held a hearing on voting rights in Halifax County Thursday. The invited witnesses all spoke in favor of restoring the U.S. Voting Rights Act.

Posted 9:45 p.m. Apr 18, 2019 — Updated 10:58 p.m. Apr 18, 2019

Dave Hendrickson

, WRAL enterprise editor

ROANOKE RAPIDS, N.C. — Election-law changes enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly in recent years were roundly criticized Thursday by politicians and voting-rights advocates testifying at a congressional hearing in Halifax County.

The speakers called for a restoration and expansion of the U.S. Voting Rights Act, which was substantially weakened in 2013 when the U.S. Supreme Court threw out Section 5 of the act. That section required states and other jurisdictions with a demonstrated history of voting discrimination to get pre-clearance from the U.S. Justice Department for any changes to election law.

North Carolina was one of the states covered by Section 5.

The day after the Supreme Court ruling, several of the speakers recalled, the General Assembly approved one of the strictest voter ID requirements in the country. That same bill also eliminated same-day voter registration and early voter registration for 17-year-olds.

Rev. William Barber, former president of the North Carolina NAACP and one of Thursday’s witnesses, referred to that action as a “monster” attack on voting rights – a term that was echoed by several other speakers.

The 2013 legislation, Barber said, was “the worst attack on voting rights since the Jim Crow era,” when barriers to voting included literacy tests and poll taxes.

The North Carolina state constitution, in fact, still includes a literacy test for voting, although it can no longer be enforced.

The NAACP challenged the legislation in court, and it was ultimately found to be unconstitutional. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that struck down the law said that it had targeted minority voters “with surgical precision.”

Since then, the witnesses said, the General Assembly has continued attempts to make it harder for poor and minority citizens to vote.

U.S. Rep. Marcia Fudge, D-Ohio, chairwoman of the elections subcommittee that organized the hearing, asked how North Carolina lawmakers responded when they were asked “what they have against hard-working and poor people voting.”

State Sen. Daniel Blue, D-Wake, who was another of the witnesses, responded that they said nothing but seem to believe that “the fewer people who vote, the greater their chances of maintaining power.”

Blue said General Assembly Republicans justify election-law changes as necessary to prevent voter fraud. But he added that the State Board of Elections has found just one example of voter fraud in recent years.

He also pointed out that stricter voter ID requirements would not have prevented the reported “election fraud” in the 9th Congressional District, which was connected to absentee ballots.

Last fall, North Carolina voters added a photo ID requirement to vote to the state constitution. But lawmakers have put it on hold until next year to give state officials time to implement the change.

Congressional Democrats have introduced legislation that would restore Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, and North Carolina would again be covered by its provisions, including the pre-clearance requirement.

U.S. Rep. G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C., a member of the subcommittee, assured the witnesses that their testimony would be taken into consideration as the proposed legislation is debated.

No Republicans or other proponents of stricter voter registration requirements spoke at the hearing. It was not clear if any Republican members of the subcommittee were present.

Thursday’s hearing was one of seven being held around the country on the proposal.

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