WS Chronicle

N.C. NAACP applauds move by court in voting case

To the Editor:

N.C. NAACP stands for the right of all people to free, fair, and non-discriminatory elections in this state. Our organization and the movement we serve remain at the frontlines of a battle over the soul of democracy and at the heart of combatting a cynical fight to steal and manipulate votes in this state and this country. The fight for equal voting rights in our state is not ancient history, it is a lived experience now. The fight for voting rights in North Carolina has been an arduous effort to overcome one barrier placed in the path of African Americans after another. A lost vote can never be reclaimed, and the collective legacy of these lost votes leaves a lasting scar on democracy for generations. The extremist games must stop. Let democracy work.

N.C. NAACP requested the Federal court appoint an independent special master to provide unbiased guidance, curb the use of racial discrimination by the same parties who come to the court with unclean hands, and ensure that the people of North Carolina may once again have some confidence that our elections are, at very least, governed under legal maps. We are pleased that the court is now considering this route.

Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman
Newly elected N.C. NAACP President
Durham

Note: Last week, the federal three-judge panel overseeing the remedy for the 2011 egregious racial gerrymander of elections – which has set our state backward for more than six years – heard oral argument on whether the General Assembly’s new district maps remedy their unconstitutional actions. Following argument, the court promptly requested recommendations for a Special Master to assist the court in ensuring fair maps to govern state legislative elections in 2018.