Governor Signs Massive Voter Suppression Law in North Carolina

North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory (R) on Monday signed into law an extreme voter suppression bill that puts heavy restrictions on the state's voters. It immediately was challenged by the North Carolina NAACP, the Advancement Project, the American Civil Liberties Union, the Southern Coalition for Social Justice, the League of Women Voters, Common Cause and the A. Philip Randolph Institute.

Ever since the Supreme Court's decision in Shelby County v. Holder, invalidating a key provision of the Voting Rights Act, states like North Carolina have adopted extreme and restrictive voting changes, and other Republican-controlled legislatures are looking at similar restrictions.

"North Carolina has a long and sad history of official discrimination against African Americans, including official discrimination in voting that has touched upon the right of African Americans and other people of color to register, vote, or otherwise participate in the democratic process," the SCSJ and ACLU lawsuit pointed out. "Over the past 30 years in North Carolina, there have been over thirty successful cases brought under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act and forty objections to discriminatory changes to voting laws lodged by the Department of Justice under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act...Based on concerns about intimidation at the polling place, the United States Justice Department sent federal observers to North Carolina." Read more here.

Here's what the new North Carolina law does:

• Eliminates a week of early voting.
• Ends same-day voter registration and requires that all changes to address and other information be made at least 25 days in advance of an election.
• Requires voters to show a government-issued photo ID.
• Allows "vigilantes" to challenge the rights of citizens to vote.
• Eliminates a high school civics program that registers tens of thousands of students to vote each year in advance of their 18th birthday.
• Weakens disclosure requirements for campaign ads.

McCrory said residents "overwhelmingly" support the "common sense" law. Except that they don't. A new poll by Public Policy Polling found that 50 percent of North Carolina voters say they oppose the measure; 39 percent say they support the bill.