Lawsuits challenging North Carolina's Voter ID law are moving forward in court. The US Department of Justice, the North Carolina NAACP and the League of Women voters are among the groups suing the state over a law passed by the General Assembly last year.
The law does the following:
- requires voters to show a government issued photo ID at the polls
- shortens the early voting period by one week
- ends same day voter registration
The actual trial won't start until next year, but the plaintiffs are trying to stop the law from taking effect before the November elections.
In a hearing in federal district court in Winston-Salem yesterday, the judge overseeing the case told attorneys for the state to provide plaintiffs with documents they've requested that are relevant to the case. The judge did not rule whether 13 state legislators should comply with subpoenas requesting similar documents.