Well it seems that June is going to be a little hotter, legally speaking, for North Carolina as to just why and how we experienced voter registration irregularities since our Governor McCrory took office. These irregularities are statewide, in every county, and not centered or just a handful...
WASHINGTON -- A slate of civil rights groups put North Carolina on notice Monday, writing in a pre-litigation letter that the state must meet its voter registration obligations or risk a lawsuit.
The letter alleges that the state's motor vehicle and public assistance agencies are violating legal requirements set out in the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) to provide voter registration services to citizens and transmit registration information to election officials.
As a follow-up to the great diary by our Brother DocDawg regarding his data mining research of North Carolina's declining voter registration numbers, the heat has now been turned up, and answers are going to have to be forthcoming from Raleigh.
In a previous letter from May, the groups noted that the number of voter registrations originating from public assistance agencies dropped 66 percent from 2011 to 2014, from 42,988 applications to 13,340. The groups said that field investigations at state Department of Health and Human Services offices revealed that three-quarters of interviewees said they did not receive any sort of verbal or written opportunity to register.
Therefore, the civil rights groups say, the North Carolina DMV "systematically fails to transmit voter registration applications to elections officials within the time limits required by the NVRA when consumers indicate a desire to register."
More, below the fold...
Just a brief history of what this means, and how we are where we are at this point. There is a law on the books that is referred to as the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA). This legislation was signed into law in 1993 by then, President Bill Clinton and
delineates that state motor vehicle agencies must provide voter registration services whenever a person applies for, renews or changes his or her address on a driver’s license or government-issued identification card. It also requires public assistance, disability and military recruiting offices to facilitate voter registration.
This is also referred to as the "Motor Voter" law.
So here we are, June 1, and several civil rights groups have put North Carolina on notice, writing in a pre litigation letter that North Carolina MUST meet it's voter's obligations (NVRA), or risk a serious lawsuit. The civil rights groups maintain that the North Carolina
DMV "systematically fails to transmit voter registration applications to elections officials within the time limits required by the NVRA when consumers indicate a desire to register."
The drop in applications processed corresponds with the tenure of Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, who took office in January of 2013. His administration has said the decline is unintentional, and may be procedural in nature.
"Unintentional".... Right. Honestly.......
But North Carolina is not alone. Texas and California have had such issues as as well, and have been accused of the very same problem. Apparently, public officials have stated that they have been aware of this "disconnect", what their counties are doing (or not), as it applies to the NVRA.
"We have seen this over and over and over again," he wrote. "DMV needs to address their issues. They simply do not get their roll [sic] in registration and this results in a lot of provisionals."
According to the letter from the rights' groups, information provided in response to records requests also revealed that in more than half of North Carolina's counties, voters who were forced to cast provisional ballots last year because their names did not appear on rolls had previously registered to vote or updated their voter registration information at the DMV.
The civil rights groups are now demand that the state come up with a solution for the citizens of North Carolina to be able to vote after they submit an application, or update their registration.
In the letter, they write that they "will have no alternative but to initiate litigation" in 90 days if no state action is taken.
"It’s been overwhelming, the last few months, the number of people we’ve interacted with where the DMV has just failed," said Allison Riggs, a staff attorney with the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, which signed the notice. "It's not like we’re dying to sue the state, we’d like to work towards a solution that works for everyone. But if we need to litigate to get a better outcome, we will."
Add to this, the North Carolina voting restrictions passed and signed into legislation in Raleigh over the past few years, and we have the making of a very interesting summer ahead of us here in NC.
Voting rights advocates in North Carolina are also concerned that voting restrictions signed by McCrory in 2013 are exacerbating registration issues. The Republican-controlled legislature repealed same-day registration, shortened the early voting period and added a government-issued photo identification requirement to vote, which will be in effect for 2016's election unless it is overturned in court.
Thank you to Brother DocDawg for his original research and discovery, and we will keep you abreast of the legal happenings here in NC as they unfold.
Forward Together, Not One Step back!
Be careful, out there.
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