RALEIGH, N.C. — A federal judge in Winston-Salem today denied a petition to enjoin the State Board of Elections’ implementation of new voting laws enacted in August 2013. (Text of order).
The NAACP, League of Women Voters, and other plaintiffs had requested that Judge Thomas Schroder delay implementation of the state’s new elections procedures. In a 125-page order, Judge Schroder concluded that “at this stage of the proceedings Plaintiffs and Intervenors have failed to demonstrate a likelihood of success on their claims that [election law] changes as to same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional voting were implemented with intent to deny or abridge the right to vote of African-American North Carolinians or otherwise violate Section 2 of the [Voting Rights Act] or the Constitution.”
“We are partnering with civic organizations across the political spectrum to implement new voting requirements in a way that serves all communities in our state,” said Executive Director Kim Westbrook Strach of the State Board of Elections. “Outreach staff at the State Board will continue our efforts to ensure that every voter has the opportunity to participate this November.”
A trial on the merits is scheduled for July 2015.