NC NAACP winter session calls on leaders to mobilize voters
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The sound of civil rights anthems filled Raleigh's Abundant Life Christian Church Saturday morning.
The Poole Road location for the NC NAACP winter session attracted leaders from counties across the state. The leaders listened to the organization's president criticize legislative leaders.
"In a democracy, to keep from voting and to target black people, to target Latinos and to target poor white people is a form of political wrongdoing," said Reverend William Barber.
He spoke at length about what he and other critics call North Carolina's voter suppression laws, created by the Republican-led General Assembly.
Some victories were cited by attorney Caitlin Swain, a community lawyer.
"There will be out of precinct voting," Swain said. "In the March primary, there will be the option to register on the same day."
But organizers say obstacles remain, and the plaintiff in the suit challenging those laws told local media she's reminded of organized attempts to keep her from voting six decades ago.
"And I went through some of this, not all," said Mary Perry. "I didn't have to go through as much then as we're going through now. And I think it's just a disgrace, that we have to go through this all over again."
The NAACP wants those leaders to organize and mobilize registered voters, to get them to the polls for the March primary elections. State legislators insist they created those laws to prevent voter fraud.
