Voting rights advocates prep for federal trial over NC 'election integrity' law
A federal trial scheduled for next week could help shape the rules that govern the 2026 elections in North Carolina, as voting rights advocates challenge a law approved by Republican lawmakers who said it would protect election integrity.
The trial could be happening in Winston-Salem at the same time state lawmakers return to Raleigh to further assert their influence ahead of next year's midterms — by attempting to further gerrymander the state's U.S. House of Representatives districts in favor of GOP candidates.
Marques Thompson is the organizing director for the group Democracy NC. He said Tuesday that the law his group is suing over, as well as the proposed new maps, both have a shared goal: Making it less likely that the will of the people matters when it comes to who wins or loses elections.
"Anything that undermines that very purpose of democracy just makes it harder for our democracy to work properly," he said. "It just undermines trust in the system. And so it's always disappointing when lawmakers make laws, or changes to the elections, that aren't principally trying to understand the needs and the wishes of the people."
https://www.wral.com/story/voting-rights-advocates-prep-for-federal-trial-over-nc-election-integrity-law/22199131/
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