More than 70 years ago, Rosanell Eaton of Franklin County, North Carolina, braved intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan and the racist "literacy tests" to register and vote at a time when Jim Crow laws throughout the Old Confederacy made doing so not merely difficult but also perilous for African Americans who dared try to exercise their constitutional rights.
On Tuesday, the North Carolina NAACP and Advancement Project sued the state on behalf of Eaton after Republican Gov. Pat McCrory signed a draconian new voter suppression law that cuts early voting hours, ends pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, ends straight-ticket party voting, reduces disclosure requirements for corporate campaign donors and imposes an extremely strict voter-ID law. The lawsuit is one of two filed against the law on Monday.
Eaton, now 92, could face difficulties getting proper ID. The name on her birth certificate doesn't match the one on her driver’s license or the one on her voter registration card, and that could disqualify her.
A month ago, in a powerful voice strengthened by passionate determination despite her years, Eaton stirred a crowd of "Moral Monday" protesters against the state's new law. See for yourself:
More on the lawsuit below the fold.
The lawsuit is using Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 as its anchor. The U.S. Supreme Court in June wrecked Section 4 of the act, which established which states and other jurisdictions were required to have any voting law changes precleared by the Department of Justice:
The lawsuit aims at a number of the more punitive voting provisions for minorities in the state, including the elimination of same-day registration and reducing early voting. During the 2012 elections, almost 70 percent of African Americans used early voting.
Meanwhile, Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan of North Carolina sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder Tuesday, seeking review of the state's new voting law by the Department of Justice. She
wrote:
“Protecting the fundamental right of our citizens to vote should be among the federal government’s highest priorities. In response to voting restrictions signed into law yesterday, I strongly encourage the Justice Department to immediately review North Carolina House Bill 589 and take all appropriate steps to protect federal civil rights and the fundamental right to vote.”
Holder has vowed to use other provisions of the Voting Rights Act to put some states previously covered by preclearance back into that category. He's starting with Texas.
Join Daily Kos by urging Congress to save the Voting Rights Act by creating a new preclearance formula.
