North Carolina NAACP Explores Depth of Discrimination at Stake in Monster Voter Suppression Law during Second Day of Federal Court Hearing on Preliminary Injunction

Voting Law Sets Unprecedented Hurdles, Limiting Ballot Access to Citizens across the State, Including Civil Rights Veterans Who Lived through Jim Crow

WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The North Carolina NAACP called witnesses yesterday that delved into the circumstances surrounding the passage of the monster voter suppression law as well as laid out the law’s devastating discriminatory repercussions, particularly on communities of color, on the second day of the preliminary injunction hearing in federal court to halt HB 598.

“Now that hands that once picked cotton can join with other hands and pick presidents, governors and legislators, this General Assembly wants to change the rules,” said Rev. Dr. William J. Barber, II, president of the North Carolina NAACP. “Yesterday’s testimony proves that you cannot look at this law in isolation, but that the people of this state must consider it against the full measure of history and the people who sacrificed, sacrificed at times their very lives, for the franchise. As we fight in North Carolina this week in the courts and in the streets, let us not merely fight a political fight. This is the fight of history. This is the fight of our time. This is a blood fight.”

North Carolina lawyers Adam Stein and Irving Joyner along with Advancement Project attorneys and Kirkland Ellis, LLP, are representing the North Carolina NAACP before U.S. District Judge Thomas Schroeder in their claim that this law violates Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and the 14th and 15th Amendments of the Constitution.

“This case is fueled by the stories of those who have dedicated their lives to making our democracy more equal,” said Advancement Project Co-Director Penda D. Hair. “These are the public servants who have come before us, and those who stand up today-demanding an America more committed to its promise of equality. North Carolina set a standard of voter suppression in passing H.B. 598, but the advocates we will hear from in this case set a higher standard of resilience in their fight for a fair and open democracy.”

Among the plaintiffs to testify Tuesday was Rosanell Eaton. Born in Franklin County 93 years ago, Eaton has been an active member of the NAACP for 65 years. Taking the stand in front of the judge and a captivated courtroom, Eaton recalled her first experience registering to vote at age 19 during the Jim Crow era. After riding in a wagon on a dirt road, Eaton arrived at the polling site where she was confronted by three white men who demanded she stand upright, look straight ahead at the wall in front of her, and recite – without error – the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. It was only upon flawlessly completing this task that she was granted the right to register. Since then, Eaton has dedicated her life to helping others participate in our democracy.

Recalling her decades of work as a poll observer, worker, assistant and eventually as a poll judge, Ms. Eaton estimated that she had assisted between 4,000 and 5,000 people register to vote before she ultimately stopped counting. “My forefathers didn’t have the opportunity to register or vote,” Eaton explained. “It is my intention to help people reach that point when they could do something.”

Rosanell Eaton does not possess the proper ID to vote under the photo identification provisions of H.B. 589 that will go into effect in 2016 – the names on her driver’s license and voter registration card do not match – yet her concerns with the bill extend to other elements of the legislation. “It is so important that people have the time to vote,” Eaton expressed, raising concern about the provisions that slash a week from early voting and undermine same-day registration and use of provisional ballots.  “Voting should be free and accessible to everyone.”

Other witnesses provided insights into the discriminatory intent and impact of H.B. 589. Representative Rick Glazier testified that the law dealt “fundamentally with the most important part of democracy,” and yet the events leading up to the passage of the bill were truncated and non-transparent, leaving little time for public notice or understanding.

“It was the worst legislative process I’ve ever been through,” Glazier said. In the two-hour legislative session preceding the final House vote on the bill, he recounted that for the first time in his legislative career and recent state history, every member of the minority party asked to speak against the legislation. No majority members beyond the bill’s sponsor made a comment for the record, though the bill passed with majority support.

Rev. Jimmy R. Hawkins, Senior Pastor of Convenient Presbyterian Church in Durham, has played an active role in voter registration and get-out-the-vote efforts, including “Souls to the Polls” organizing to provide transportation for congregation members to early Sunday voting locations. H.B. 589, however, truncates early voting and eliminates Sundays from the allotted days. For African American voters, Hawkins explained, voting is “not just a political activity; it’s personal.”

Today’s session will continue with expert accounts, as new dimensions of insight will paint a picture of the discriminatory intent and detrimental effects of North Carolina’s severe voter suppression law.

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Founded in 1909, the NAACP is the nation’s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities. The NC Conference of NAACP Branches is 70 years old this year and is made up of over 100 Adult, Youth and College NAACP units across the state, convenes more than 160 members of the Historic Thousands on Jones Street (HKonJ) People’s Assembly Coalition, and is the architect of the Moral Monday & Forward Together Movement.