Status Conference to be held in NAACP North Carolina’s Federal Court Challenge to North Carolina’s Discriminatory Photo Voter ID Law
NAACP North Carolina Files Motion to Lift the Stay and Schedule a Status Conference in its Federal Court Challenge to North Carolina’s Discriminatory Photo Voter ID Law
Raleigh, N.C - On Wednesday, July 26, Plaintiffs from the North Carolina State Conference of the NAACP (“NAACP North Carolina”), including the Chapel Hill-Carrboro, Greensboro, High Point, Moore County, Stokes County, and Winston-Salem Forsyth County branches (“Plaintiffs”), will appear in front of Magistrate Judge Auld for a Status Conference in their federal challenge to S.B. 824, North Carolina’s discriminatory Photo Voter ID law.
This case was set to go to trial in the Middle District of North Carolina in January 2022, but was stayed by the Court due to a pending challenge in the U.S. Supreme Court regarding whether or not North Carolina legislative leaders could intervene as Defendants in the case; as well as a state challenge to this same law, Holmes v. Moore.
When: Wednesday, July 26, 2023 @ 10:30 am EST
Where: L. Richardson Preyer United States Courthouse- Courtroom 1A
324 W Market St, Greensboro, NC 27401
On June 9th, Plaintiffs requested that the court both lift the stay that had been in place for over a year, and to schedule a status conference to determine next steps in the case. Their request came on the heels of the historic 5-4 decision from the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that Alabama discriminated against Black voters when it drew its seven congressional districts last year.
Voting rights advocates and attorneys for the Plaintiffs feel that now is the time for the federal court to reopen the case so that NAACP North Carolina can pursue its challenge to S.B. 824 to stop the implementation of this discriminatory law and protect Black voters in North Carolina.
Additional information: In June 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately decided that the legislative leaders could intervene as a procedural matter in this case. However, that decision did not address the constitutionality of North Carolina’s discriminatory Voter ID law, and NAACP North Carolina will continue to vigorously pursue its challenge to that law now that the case has returned to the federal trial court.