A federal judge in Winston-Salem will hear a legal challenge involving a voting rights lawsuit on Wednesday. The North Carolina Chapter of the NAACP is suing the state over thousands of cancelled voter registrations.
The lawsuit zeroes in on three counties: Cumberland, Moore and Beaufort. That's where thousands of voters' names are being removed over requests filed by private citizens. In North Carolina, like most states, individuals have the authority to challenge voter registrations.
They sent mail to home addresses. If the mail is returned as undeliverable, that is considered enough evidence for county boards that a voter no longer lives there.
The NAACP claims the challenges disproportionately affect minorities. The group wants the names restored. The suit also says they want to make sure those voters do not face any same-day challenges to their registrations at polling places on Election Day.
The lawsuit accuses state and local officials of violating the National Voter Registration Act. It prohibits elections boards from clearing voter names from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election.
But the state officials say they are in the bounds of the federal law, which hasn't been interpreted to ban individual challenges.
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