The New York Times reports today that the U.S. Justice Department will sue to challenge new North Carolina legislation aimed at suppressing the vote of Democratic-friendly voting blocs. The Republicans in control in that state want to discourage early voting (a boon to working people); to make registration drives difficult, and to impose some of the most onerous Voter ID provisions in the country (no college or even state welfare agency IDs will be accepted).
With Republican judges in control of the U.S. Supreme Court, this challenge might prove an uphill battle, even if worth fighting.
On the Arkansas front, the outlook is more promising. A lawsuit is in the works here that will challenge the Republican vote suppression law passed by the 2013 Arkansas legislature on state constitutional grounds. Our foundation document puts clear limits on imposing new bars to voter access. But the lawyers better move fast. Republicans are working hard to pack our Supreme Court with ideologues, too.
I’m told the Arkansas lawsuit could be filed by the end of this week.