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Federal Judge Weighs Testimony In Voter Purge Case

A federal judge in Winston-Salem will decide if the cancelations of up to 4,500 voter registrations in the eastern half of North Carolina will stand. KERI BROWN/WFDD

A federal judge in Winston-Salem is weighing testimony in a legal challenge involving a voting rights lawsuit after an emergency hearing Wednesday. The North Carolina chapter of the NAACP is suing the state over thousands of cancelled voter registrations.

Attorneys with the NAACP say elections officials broke federal law after three North Carolina counties purged voter registrations. They claim the challenges disproportionately affect minorities.

Federal law prohibits elections boards from clearing voter names from the rolls within 90 days of a federal election.

But lawyers for the state say the law doesn't apply to private individuals, who were the ones challenging the registrations. 

They say data shows only a sliver of names have been removed from county rolls in the past two years - fewer than 7,000 statewide out of 6.8 million registered voters. 

The individuals sent mail to home addresses. Returned mail gave county officials enough evidence to void the registrations. During the hearing, some county election officials say they also made additional efforts to contact voters for address verifications.

Federal judge Loretta Biggs, who is presiding over the case, questioned how the challenge process was carried out by election officials.

Biggs said she was "horrified" by the number of removals in Cumberland County, which accounted for the majority of the statewide total. She said she would weigh all of the testimony, but ended by saying any burden that comes out of this case should be placed on the state and not the voter.

It's unclear when a ruling will be issued, but Biggs noted the importance of a timely one as the Nov. 8th election nears.

*Follow WFDD's Keri brown on Twitter @kerib_news

Keri Brown is a multi-award winning reporter and host at 88.5 WFDD. She has been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for her stories about coal ash, and was named the 2015 radio reporter of the year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas (RTDNAC).Although she covers a variety of topics, her beats are environmental and education reporting.Keri comes to the Triad from West Virginia Public Broadcasting, where she served as the Chief Bureau Reporter for the Northern Panhandle. She produced stories for the state's Public Television and Radio programs and was honored by the West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association for her feature and enterprise reporting.She also served as an adjunct instructor at Wheeling Jesuit University and Bethany College in West Virginia. She worked with the Center for Educational Technologies in Wheeling, WV, and other NASA centers across the country to develop several stories about the use of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) concepts in the classroom.Keri's journalism career began at WTRF-TV 7 in Wheeling. She worked in several roles at the station, including the head assignment editor. She also was a field producer and assignment manager at WPGH-TV Fox 53 in Pittsburgh.Keri is a graduate of Ohio University. When she's not in the studio or working on a story, she enjoys watching college football with her family, cooking, and traveling.Keri is always looking for another great story idea, so please share them with her. You can follow her on Twitter @kerib_news.

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