NAACP of North Carolina Sues Over Alleged Removal of Voters Targeting African-Americans

North Carolina's chapter of the NAACP has filed a lawsuit against the state's board of elections along with three county election boards, alleging that the registration of thousands of voters has been cancelled in a coordinated effort that is disproportionately targeting black voters, according to a complaint filed in federal court.

The North Carolina NAACP is alleging that boards in Moore, Beaufort and Cumberland counties have cancelled thousands of voter registrations for changes in residences on the basis of single mailings returned as undeliverable, in violation of the National Voting Rights Act. The complaint states that the state board of elections has defended the actions on the ground that state law purportedly allows private individuals to challenge voter registrations based on evidence that they have moved out of the precinct or county, including a returned mailing.

However, the complaint states that the state laws cannot be implemented in a manner that violates the NVRA.

In a press release, the NAACP of North Carolina called it a "coordinated effort right out of the GOP playbook to suppress the black vote in the state."

“The Tar Heel state is ground zero in the intentional, surgical efforts by Republicans to suppress the voice of voters,” Rev. William Barber II, president of the North Carolina NAACP, said in the press release. “The NAACP is defending rights of all North Carolinians to participate in this election. We’re taking this emergency step to make sure not a single voters’ voice is unlawfully taken away. This is our Selma and we will not back down and allow this suppression to continue.”

The complaint states that under the NVRA, certain procedures must be followed if a state undertakes to removed registered voters on the basis of a change in residence. The registrant has to either confirm the change of residence in writing or has to fail to respond to a notice and fail to vote during the next two general election cycles after receiving the notice. The NVRA also states that states attempting to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters must do it no later than 90 days prior to the date of a primary or general election for federal office.

Many of the voters purged from the rolls say they received no notice of a second hearing after preliminary hearings challenging their registration status.

The lawsuit also claims the purge is violating the Voting Rights Act since the removal of voters has a disparate impact on African-American voters. The NAACP is calling for the respective elections boards to restore the purged voters to the rolls and stop the removal process.

Read the full complaint here.

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