The newly Republican-led North Carolina State Board of Elections has approved a decision to allow counties to eliminate Sunday early voting beginning with this year’s municipal election.
Democrats on the election board, along with voting rights advocates, have criticized the harmful decision and pointed to a previous attempt by Republicans to pass a similar voter suppression measure.
WRAL reports that a 2016 court ruling from the last time North Carolina Republicans attempted to eliminate Sunday voting — part of a broader law passed by the state legislature in 2013–was later struck down as unconstitutional for discriminating against Black voters “with almost surgical precision.”
“We’re going down a dark path when we’re taking away Sunday voting,” said Jeff Carmon, a Democratic member of the elections board, told WRAL.
In a press statement, Advance Carolina and the North Carolina Black Alliance strongly condemn the decision, stating, “Sunday voting has long served as a vital access point for Black voters in North Carolina, especially through ‘Souls to the Polls’ traditions led by our churches, communities, and civic organizations. For many working families, Sunday provides the only real opportunity to cast a ballot without sacrificing wages or family responsibilities.”
“Stripping away this option disproportionately impacts Black voters and reflects the same discriminatory pattern that the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recognized in 2016,” the statement continues. “ Our democracy should be about removing barriers, not creating new ones. Every eligible voter deserves fair and equitable access to the ballot box. Early voting days have already been reduced, and eliminating Sunday voting compounds the harm by leaving fewer opportunities for voters to cast their ballots.”
The latest decision comes after state Republicans passed a law that stripped power from Democratic Gov. Josh Stein over the state election administration and handed it to the Republican state auditor.
The law received widespread criticism from voting rights advocates, pro-democracy groups, and state Supreme Court Justice Anita Earls and Justice Allison Riggs.
“If the voters of North Carolina wanted a Republican official to control the State Board of Elections, they could have elected a Republican Governor,” Justice Earls wrote in her dissent. “They did not.”
Justice Riggs also dissented, writing, “The majority is rewriting precedent and upending 125 years of status quo for the North Carolina State Board of Elections.”
In addition, the North Carolina elections board ousted its widely respected executive director, Karen Brinson Bell, in a highly controversial move that will put Republicans in control of election operations, including the certification of results.
