Elections and Voting
May 12, 2023 -
In a rare procedural move, North Carolina’s Republican-controlled high court reversed a ruling blocking voter identification requirements made just five months earlier by the previous Democratic-controlled court. The law requiring voters to show certain kinds of photo ID at the polls will be implemented as soon as this September’s municipal elections, and elections officials and voting rights advocates are getting ready.
June 27, 2017 -
While much of the country was focused on last week's special election in Georgia's 6th Congressional District, Democrat Archie Parnell pulled off a 17-point leftward swing in South Carolina's strongly GOP 5th. His near-victory offers insight for the 2018 midterms and raises questions about the kind of candidate who can win in the South.
December 16, 2016 -
As North Carolina's special legislative session on disaster relief drew to a close this week, Republican legislative leaders announced a surprise special session that ended with the state's newly elected Democratic governor stripped of key powers and dozens of protesters arrested.
December 9, 2016 -
This week the U.S. Supreme Court took up cases involving potentially racially gerrymandered voting districts in North Carolina and Virginia. The rulings are expected to define for the first time what constitutes excessive reliance on race when drawing district lines.
October 21, 2016 -
The deadly storm caused widespread flooding, displacing entire communities as voter registration deadlines loomed. In one Southern state, the governor voluntarily extended the deadline. But in three others — all competitive in the presidential election — Democrats and voting rights groups had to sue to win only modest extensions.
June 3, 2016 -
After North Carolina lawmakers' attempt to help the reelection of a conservative state Supreme Court justice failed, a business group has spent nearly half a million dollars backing his campaign in hopes of preserving the court's conservative majority.
June 3, 2016 -
North Carolina will hold a special primary election for Congress on June 7 because of a court ruling that the legislature unconstitutionally gerrymandered districts. The election is costing the state millions, with turnout expected to be extremely low. Will the debacle boost the case for independent redistricting?
