NAACP marches for voting rights in Raleigh
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A group that's been marching in shifts from Selma, Alabama to Washington, D.C. passed through Raleigh Thursday to meet and pick up more protesters in what they call a voting rights rally.
"From Selma, Alabama to Washington, D.C," chanted the group as they marched from Shaw University, across the Old State Capitol lawn and onto Bicentennial Mall in front of the state legislative building.
Those joining the long march were marked by yellow T-shirts. They're trekking an overall 860 miles from Selma to Washington, D.C.
"We're marching for voting rights and every step is a prayer," said Leslie Boyd. Boyd joined the march and plans to march over the next nine days. She said every step she takes is for education, voting rights and Medicaid expansion.
Holding a framed photo of her 33-year-old son she said, "He died because he was denied health care."
The group from Selma joined fellow protesters in Raleigh Thursday evening. The entire march is part of a two-year-long fight against changes to state voting laws passed by the Republican-led legislature.
The new laws eliminate same-day registration and cut early voting by seven days. These are changes North Carolina's NAACP president said is a deep disrespect to democracy.
"When you mess with the right to vote it's like going down to my grandmama's grave, digging up her body, opening up the casket and throwing her bones all around and then stepping on them," said NC NAACP president, Rev. William Barber.
The NC GOP issued a response to the rally:
It's important for North Carolinians to know that the real people behind the opposition to NC's voter law are George Soros and Hillary Clinton.
If the NAACP believes so strongly in their opposition to the voting law, will they also criticize Democrat Attorney General Roy Cooper and candidate for governor for defending the law in court?
The fact is that the true motivation behind their opposition to the law has less to do with civil rights and more to do with politics and increasing opportunities for fraud in our system.
- Kara Carter, NCGOP Press Secretary
