NAACP commemorates 51st anniversary of Voting Rights Act
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The NC NAACP marked the 51st Anniversary of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 with a celebration over the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals recent ruling to strike down North Carolina's Voter ID Law.
"What we know is every battle for justice we've ever fought, we've always eventually won," the Rev. William Barber, NC NAACP president said defiantly to cheers from the crowd inside Christian Faith Baptist Church in Raleigh on Saturday.
Many of those in attendance for the NAACP's scheduled press conference and forum on voting rights have been fighting the law since Gov. Pat McCrory signed it into law in 2013.
Amid shouts of victory, Barber read aloud and paraphrased many parts of the appeals court's ruling, which found the law was passed with discriminatory intent.
"They call it the most restrictive voting law North Carolina has seen since Jim Crow," he said.
In light of the court's order, come time for the election, same-day registration, early voting and out-of-precinct voting will all be restored. Those showing up in-person to cast a ballot will not need to show a photo ID.
"It was never a photo ID bill," Barber said. "It was a complex, multifaceted voter suppression bill."
The Republican Party responded to the NAACP news conference.
"We find it hilarious that Barber's folks who sued to overturn voter ID are concerned that the result of their own actions was to also overthrow Republican lawmakers' efforts to expand early voting sites, which was also included in this law," said Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the NC GOP.
On Aug. 29, the NAACP will launch its Moral March to the Polls Campaign to educate voters and ensure they get out to the ballot box in November.
