North Carolina court blocks state voter ID law, citing ‘intent to target African American voters’

A North Carolina state court panel on Friday blocked a voter identification law, citing discrimination against Black voters.

The law, known as SB 824, was passed in 2018 after Republicans lost their supermajority in the legislature but before the new legislature took over. It was already on hold under a preliminary injunction, after North Carolina’s Court of Appeals said voter ID provisions could negatively impact Black voters. But now the state court has permanently blocked the law, which required photo identification to vote.

The majority of the three-judge panel said Friday that the law “was motivated at least in part by an unconstitutional intent to target African American voters.”

“Other, less restrictive voter ID laws would have sufficed to achieve the legitimate nonracial purposes of implementing the constitutional amendment requiring voter ID, deterring fraud, or enhancing voter confidence,” Superior Court Judges Michael O’Foghludha and Vince Rozier wrote in their ruling Friday.

In a statement, Southern Coalition for Social Justice co-executive director and chief counsel for voting rights Allison Riggs and pro bono counsel Andrew Ehrlich — attorneys who served on behalf of a group of North Carolina voters — said they “hope” the ruling sent “a strong message that racial discrimination will not be tolerated.”

The statement continued: “Today’s ruling striking down North Carolina’s latest unconstitutional photo voter ID law is a testament to the overwhelming evidence, including compelling stories of disenfranchisement from voters themselves, which highlighted how the state’s Republican-controlled legislature undeniably implemented this legislation to maintain its power by targeting voters of color."

[SOURCE: CNN]

Rep. Hank Johnson arrested at voting rights demonstration

Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., was among 10 demonstrators arrested by U.S. Capitol Police on Thursday in an orchestrated act of civil disobedience outside the Hart Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill.

Johnson and voting rights advocates participating in Black Voters Matter Fund's "Brothers Day of Action," a protest led by Black men to advocate for voting rights, called on Congress to end the filibuster and pass the For the People Act.

After his arrest Rep. Johnson tweeted:

.@BlackCaucus I was arrested today protesting against Senate inaction on voting rights legislation & filibuster reform. In the spirit of my dear friend and mentor – the late Congressman John Lewis – I was getting in #goodtrouble pic.twitter.com/JjN51mRpaC

— Rep. Hank Johnson (@RepHankJohnson) July 22, 2021

Michael Jordan donates $1 million to NAACP Legal Defense Fund & Black Voters Matter

On June 5, Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand committed to donate $100 million over 10 years to directly impact the fight against systemic racism. These donations will focus on three priority areas:

Social Justice: Seeking to increase civic engagement from the Black community to address issues that disproportionately affect them, such as voter suppression and criminal justice reform.

Economic Justice: Working to eliminate the wealth gap through partnerships that create access to capital, improve the quality and delivery of financial literacy and education programs and build generational wealth in Black communities.

Education and Awareness: Creating greater awareness of the role race plays in our history and drive a deeper understanding of the effects and consequences of racism. As part of bringing this commitment to life, Michael Jordan and Jordan Brand today announced three initial partners that will receive donations to support their efforts to combat Black voter suppression.

“I’m all in with Jordan Brand, the Jordan family and our partners, who share a commitment to address the historical inequality that continues to plague Black communities in the U.S.,” says Michael Jordan. “There is a long history of oppression against Black Americans that holds us back from full participation in American society. We understand that one of the main ways we can change systemic racism is at the polls. We know it will take time for us to create the change we want to see, but we are working quickly to take action for the Black community’s voice to be heard.”

Partners were selected based on their ability to take action that can create impact now. Donations of $1 million each to the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc. (LDF) and the Formerly Incarcerated & Convicted People and Families Movement (FICPFM), and $500,000 to Black Voters Matter to support reformative practices that drive real change in the Black community.

“The $100 million commitment was just the start. We are moving from commitment to action. Our initial partners can directly impact the social and political well-being of the Black community,” says Craig Williams, President of Jordan Brand. “We will have a disciplined focus on social justice, economic justice and education, as the most effective ways for us to eliminate the systemic racism that remains in society.”

The work of these partners will focus on cities and states where Black people are underrepresented in registration and turnout numbers, relative to their share of the overall population.

Democrats create PAC to maximize black voter turnout

Black lives matter — and so do their votes.

But without a rock star candidate like Barack Obama to draw African-Americans to the polls, concerned Democrats carved a new path to give black voters a boost.

The group of political and civil rights operatives created a political action committee to maximize black voter turnout in the battleground states of Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina and Virginia.

President Obama has brought nearly 4 million new black voters out to vote since 2008, according to Democratic officials.

“In a crucial election like 2016, it takes a multipronged approach to make sure black voters not only turn out in numbers, but also see their issues represented in the White House,” said Marc Morial, president of the Urban League.

Morial is among the names behind Black Votes Matter PAC, designed to put the focus on issues important to black communities in those states and the rest of the country.

The Black Votes Matter PAC will be run by Charlie King, who ran the New York State Democratic Party for Gov. Andrew Cuomo and headed up the reelection effort of U.S. Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-Harlem).

Read more: Democrats create PAC to maximize black voter turnout