The widely read and influential World: Other aspects of the law eliminate straight-party voting and nullify provisional ballots made in the wrong precinct. The law also ends a program for pre-registering high schooler students in civics classes. While 70 percent of North Carolinians support requiring voters to have photo identification, more than half the state is not pleased with many of the law’s other changes. But to accuse the legislature of being racist is something else entirely. Affecting and excluding are two separate things, not to mention excluding by color, not party, on purpose. North Carolinians still have 11 days to vote, getting a photo identification card remains free, and finding the right polling place can be easier than finding out what a candidate stands for.”
“Because of the statute the taxpayer-funded lawsuit is built on, Holder has a difficult task. He must prove racist intent, not just discriminatory effect. That’s what makes the accusation Holder made “with sorrow” so grave.
World is right. Of all the disgraceful behavior by the Justice Department Voting Section, the lawsuit in North Carolina was perhaps the most disgraceful. The lawsuit alleges absurdities, and seems designed more to appease a rabid political base than to actual present meritorious arguments. It is a great example of the use of power for political and ideological ends.