North Carolina early-voting cuts could dampen black vote

Election officials in nearly two dozen North Carolina counties have approved reductions in early-voting hours ahead of November’s elections, cuts that Democrats warn could disenfranchise many low-income voters.

County boards of elections have approved reducing early-voting hours in 23 of North Carolina’s 100 counties. Another eight counties plan to end early voting on the Sunday before Election Day, when a huge number of African-American voters tend to go to the polls.

North Carolina is a critical swing state in the presidential race, one where Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton is counting on a heavy African-American voter turnout. President Obama won North Carolina in 2008 and narrowly lost the state in 2012.

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