N.C. elections boards move to curtail student voting

[struggle4progress]

Ari Berman on August 20, 2013 - 2:59 PM ET

Hours after passing the country’s worst voter suppression law, North Carolina Republicans escalated their attempts to prevent students from participating in the political process.

• The GOP-controlled board of elections in Pasquotank County voted to disqualify Montravias King, a senior at historically black Elizabeth City State University, from running for city council, claiming King couldn’t use his student address to establish residency, even though he’s been registered to vote there since 2009. “The head of the county’s Republican Party said he plans to challenge the voter registrations of more students at the historically black university ahead of upcoming elections,” the AP reported.

• The GOP chair of the Forsyth County Board of Elections is moving to shut down an early voting site at historically black Winston-Salem State University because he claims students were offered extra credit in class for voting there. “He offered no proof such irregularities had occurred,” the Raleigh News and Observer noted.

• The GOP-controlled Watauga County Board of Elections in Boone, North Carolina, voted along party lines to close an early voting and general election polling place at Appalachian State University. Instead, the county limited early voting to one site in Boone and created the state’s third-largest voting precinct, with 9,300 voters at a precinct designed for 1,500, with only thirty-five parking places. It’s inaccessible by public transportation and over a mile from campus along a 45 mph road with no sidewalk. “I feel like the people (students) who really care might come all the way out here to vote,” said Ashley Blevins, a junior at Appalachian State, “but I know a lot of people who are like, ‘eh, it’s too far—I don’t think I’m going to walk that far,’ because they don’t really have another way of getting here” ...

http://www.thenation.com/blog/175837/north-carolina-republicans-escalate-attack-student-voting

[struggle4progress]

1. In North Carolina ‘Eligible Voter’ is Newspeak for Rich White Male Republicans

By: Adalia WoodburyAug. 23rd, 2013

North Carolina is an example of how quickly fascists masquerading as libertarians can turn a once progressive state into a right wing backwater ...

.. In Republican newspeak, eligible voter is code for voters who are rich, white, male and Republican. When Republicans speak of “widespread” voter fraud, what they are really saying is votes by African Americans, Hispanics, women and the poor are “fraudulent” ....

<Colin> Powell was the keynote speaker at the CEO Forum in Raleigh North Carolina on Thursday. After the state’s governor made his opening remarks, Colin Powell smashed GOP talking points about North Carolina’s vote suppression law. According to the Raleigh News Observer, McCrory left before Colin Powell commented on the state’s vote suppression law.

Considering that Pat McCrory didn’t know what was in the law when he signed it, it’s too bad he didn’t stick around. He might have learned something ...

http://www.politicususa.com/2013/08/23/north-carolina-eligible-voter-newspeak-rich-white-male-repubicans.html

[struggle4progress]

2. Students should fight Voter ID law (Duke Chronicle)

... The voter ID law, signed Aug. 12, shortens the early voting period from 17 to 10 days, eliminates same-day voter registration and prohibits the use of college identifications when voting, among other provisions ...

Regardless of one’s ideological position on the issue, this law will undoubtedly make it more difficult for Duke students to vote in North Carolina. Student efforts to simplify voting on campus have been upended by this sweeping bill, which will drastically change the incentives to vote for out-of-state Duke students, a group that makes up 85 percent of our student body. Although the law’s passage is disheartening, we should continue to fight this change. To throw up our hands and admit defeat would only fuel apathy and allow more bills like this one to spill out of the North Carolina statehouse.

http://www.dukechronicle.com/articles/2013/08/27/students-should-fight-voter-id-law

[struggle4progress]

3. Editorial: N.C. voter ID law sets dangerous precedent (Pitt News)

Posted: Monday, August 26, 2013 8:06 pm
Updated: 11:05 am, Tue Aug 27, 2013.
The Pitt News Editorial Board

... “It’s clearly targeting student voters,” said Diana Kasdan of New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice in a recent interview. And she’s correct.

Students of higher educational institutions are being seriously marginalized as they now cannot use their student IDs to validate their identity when going to vote. For residents of North Carolina, a portion of students will be negatively affected by the law. For non-residents who do not have a state-issued form of ID, their , voting rights will be voided.

“I will go as far as saying this is an attack on student voters,” noted Robert Nunnery, President of the UNC’s Association of Student Governments.

In the case of Pennsylvania, the vote to pass a similar voter fraud law has been continuously pushed back. While it’s true that Pennsylvania’s law is not as far-reaching, this new attempt to suppress the vote of college students could convince legislators in the Keystone State to follow suit ...

http://www.pittnews.com/opinion/editorials/article_cd8224b4-0eac-11e3-aaf6-0019bb30f31a.html

[etherealtruth]

4. K and R for visibility!

[spanone]

5. criminal, unconstitutional & anti-democracy/american

[rdharma]

6. This is bad! Real bad!

To understand why......... see this!

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/rachel-maddow/52823877#52823877

[tammywammy]

7. k & r n/t

[alarimer]

8. Rachel Maddow came to Elizabeth City last week on this issue

I went down to watch. It was a very good show. There is one guy here that is doing most of the challenges.

I can't believe what they did in Boone, either.

[msongs]

9. this should be fought under the equal protection clause of the US constitution because

for federal elections voters are being denied the right to vote in NC for provisions that are NOT used to deny votes elsewhere. If you can vote with student ID in California you should be able to vote with student ID in NC....for federal elections at least.