Source: Politics<\/p>\n
Two top Democratic organizations filed a lawsuit Tuesday challenging a Republican-backed North Carolina election law moments after it went into effect.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit, filed by Democratic National Committee and North Carolina Democratic Party, tackles multiple aspects of Senate Bill 747.<\/p>\n
But the plaintiffs are specifically seeking preliminary relief on the bill\u2019s provisions on same-day registration, which require additional photo ID and address verification requirements. Under those provisions, if voters opt to do same-day registration but do not have their submitted information verified on time, the ballot could be withdrawn under the new laws.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit was filed immediately after the GOP-dominated legislature overrode Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper\u2019s veto of the bill, according to Biden campaign officials who have been working closely with the DNC and North Carolina Democrats to craft the lawsuit in anticipation of the bill\u2019s movement.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefending Americans\u2019 fundamental right to cast their ballots against efforts to undermine their freedom to vote is an urgent priority for President Biden and Vice President Harris. SB 747 is not about protecting election security. It\u2019s about making it harder for North Carolinians to vote and adding new burdens for voters to cast their ballot safely and, ultimately, have their vote counted,\u201d Biden campaign manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said in a statement.<\/p>\n
Senate Bill 747 overhauls the state\u2019s election laws, adding new restrictions and deadlines, while also empowering partisan poll watchers, becoming the latest GOP-led effort to impose new voting restrictions in state legislatures across the country. In North Carolina, Republicans have deemed the law necessary to improve election security, while Cooper on Tuesday blasted it as a means for \u201cmanipulating elections to entrench their power\u201d and North Carolina Democratic Party Chair Anderson Clayton condemned it as an \u201call out attack on democracy itself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tuesday\u2019s legal challenge foreshadows the DNC and Biden campaign\u2019s strategy going into 2024, drawing lessons from efforts to counter voting restrictions in 2020, campaign officials told POLITICO. During the last cycle, DNC officials found greater success in targeted challenges.<\/p>\n
The goal with the design of Tuesday\u2019s lawsuit, campaign officials said, is to successfully overturn some provisions before voters cast ballots in 2024. On the preliminary injunction on this case, the expectation is that a judge will issue a ruling in the next few months.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the wake of the GOP\u2019s continuous assault on democracy, we\u2019re using every tool in our arsenal to put an end to Republicans\u2019 voter suppression,\u201d DNC chair Jaime Harrison said in a statement.<\/p>\n