Dems seek more early-voting hours in NC counties

by Reid Wilson - 10/01/16 6:50 PM ET

Attorneys behind the lawsuit that struck down a sweeping North Carolina election reform measure filed an emergency motion on Saturday to extend early-voting hours in five counties.

The new motion, filed by Marc Elias, the top lawyer for Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, seeks to extend early-voting hours in Nash, New Hanover, Mecklenburg, Guilford and Forsyth counties. President Obama won four of those five counties in 2012.

{mosads}The motion comes after the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in July that a 2013 state election reform law disproportionately impacted low-income and minority voters. The three-judge panel that struck down the law said it had been enacted by the legislature with intent to discriminate against voters who typically back Democrats.

In an email, Elias said the state’s election officials are still erecting barriers to voting access.

“It’s unfortunate that even after losing in court before, North Carolina continues to find ways to make voting more difficult,” Elias said. “That is why we brought this emergency motion.”

Each county in North Carolina sets its own plan for early-voting hours and locations, subject to approval by a state board. The governor’s party controls two of three seats on each county’s board of elections, so Republicans controlled early-voting decisions in all five counties this year.

The county boards of elections did expand the number of early-voting hours in Forsyth, Guilford, Nash and New Hanover counties this year, though Democratic members of those boards proposed going further.

In Mecklenburg County, the state’s most populous and home of Charlotte, the county board of elections plans to open early-voting locations for a total of 2,500 hours, down from 2,742 hours in 2012. The Democratic member of the board submitted an alternate plan to keep early-voting locations open for a total of 2,868 hours.

The emergency motion filed Saturday asks the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of North Carolina to open more voting sites or expand hours in each county.

The motion calls for Mecklenburg County to have longer hours at early-voting locations on the final Sunday before Election Day.

In Forsyth County, home of a large number of African-American voters who live in Winston-Salem, Clinton’s campaign hopes to reestablish early voting on that last Sunday; the county board voted to end early voting on that day this year.

And the motion asks a judge to compel New Hanover County to hold Sunday early-voting hours, and force Guilford and Nash counties to open more early-voting sites around Greensboro and Rocky Mount.

Tags Hillary Clinton