With all the negative laws that have burdened North Carolina residents over the last four years, this week's federal court of appeals
ruling has been good news for voters - and bad news for the likes of Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis and his party. Stated in
the ruling, NC voters can now register the
same day they cast a ballot during early voting.
One can't deny this new ruling has much to do with pressure from North Carolina citizens. The people of the state did not sit around and complain about voting restrictions passed by their Republican-run government (The NC GOP currently owns the House, Senate, NC Supreme Court and Governor). Thousands of everyday North Carolinians left the comfort of their homes and risked arrest to actively protest at Moral Mondays and General Assembly sit-ins week after week. (Over 1,000 citizens where arrested in 2013).
It should also be noted that a little over a year ago, former Attorney General
Eric Holder and the Department of Justice filed a lawsuit against the state of North Carolina, charging the new
voting restrictions passed in August of 2013, were/are discriminatory towards minorities. So this new ruling has been fought for on local, state, and national levels, and it's a victory for many.
Moral Monday's predominant force, Reverend William Barber, was pleased with this week's new ruling:
"The Court took an important step to ensure that this election will remain free, fair, and accessible to all North Carolina voters."
Moral Monday nemesis, Republican House Speaker Thom Tillis, who is running against
Kay Hagan for for U.S. Senate, has problems with this new ruling. His reason? It will 'confuse voters.'
"Rewriting reasonable rules requiring people to vote in their own precinct and register in advance will strain our voting system, confuse voters and disrupt our general election that is only a month away."
Okay, then. So, Thom, do you mean 'confuse voters' like in sending
misleading AFP voting instruction packets to hundreds of thousands of NC residents over the last several weeks? That kind of voter confusion? Or are you having trouble with this ruling because you see the people of North Carolina toppling the GOP
Koch &
Pope sucking lawmakers - and you see your own campaign 'strained, 'disrupted' and crashing?
Like many others, I'm still fuming over the alleged AFP voting misinformation stunt. And I have wanted to throw my laptop across the room every time I've seen the NC GOP pass another law that blatantly suppresses blacks/minorities, women's choice, healthcare, and any good thing President Obama tries to do for the betterment of this country. It's been an endless hell since the Republicans took control of the state. But instead of going off and ruining my fairly new laptop, I'm going to simply enjoy this new ruling, knowing it's the result of the American people speaking out and it's the result of American justice being done - as it should be.
Special thanks to Meteor Blades and Smiley7 for the related Daily Kos diaries, and to Jorge Valencia/WUNC.org for the Barber and Tillis quotes.