The U.S. Department of Justice has filed a law suit North Carolina for alleged racial discrimination over new voting laws, The Associated Press reported. Calling the laws "restrictive," Attorney General Eric Holder argued that the state took "extremely aggressive steps to curtail the voting rights of African-Americans. This is an intentional step to break a system that was working and it defies common sense," he said at a press conference on Monday.
The law shortens the period for early voting as well as requiring new stiffer voter identification requirements at the polls. The laws have make it considerably more difficult for poor and minorities, but advocates argue that it may prevent fraud, Fox News reported.
"This new law would shrink rather than expand access to the franchise significantly. It would disproportionately [affect a] large number of minority voters, Holder continued, saying that the laws were "inconsistent with out ideals as a nation."
The DOJ will challenge four provisions of North Carolina's voting law, as reported by The Washington Post. This includes the strict voter-ID requirements, which critics say do not provide adequate protection for voters who lack the required ID, news reports said.
"Holder's suit will also challenge the elimination of the first seven days of early voting and the elimination of same-day voter registration during the early-voting period."
Holder announced that he would sue Texas over its new voter ID law and in a separate case help challenge Texas' redistricting laws, as he called the Texas suit part of a "continuing effort to protect the voting rights of all eligible Americans."
The high court struck down a provision of the 1965 voting rights law earlier this year which required many local and state governments with a history of discriminatory practices to pre-clear changes to voting laws with the federal government. That led to a number of states passing new voting laws, which have been challenged by civil rights groups.
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