2013--A Year of Election Law Changes
Published for Coates' Canons on September 03, 2013.
In 2013, the United States Supreme Court and the North Carolina General Assembly together made major changes in the law of elections. This was a watershed year in elections law.
The Change from the Supreme Court—the End of Pre-Clearance
In June, in the case of Shelby County v. Holder, the Supreme Court declared Section 4 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 unconstitutional. Section 4 identified the jurisdictions in the nation that were required under Section 5 of the Act to submit changes related to voting for approval by the U.S. Department of Justice, in a process known as “preclearance.” With Section 4 unconstitutional, Section 5 is left without force. It is, for all practical purposes, dead.
What, exactly, does that mean for North Carolina’s 40 counties that were covered by Section 4? For decades, those counties and their cities and school boards and boards of elections have been required to submit elections changes for preclearance. No change related to voting in any of those 40 counties—or any municipality or school board in the county—could go into effect until the U.S. Department of Justice gave permission
And, because any elections law that applied statewide also obviously affected those 40 counties, every state elections statute also had to be submitted to the Department of Justice for preclearance.
Now, however, Section 5 is dead. For elections changes made starting in June 25, 3013, preclearance is no longer required. It is not required for changes at the county or municipal level or at the state level.
But Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act remains alive and well. It is the basic anti-discrimination portion of the Act. It prohibits discrimination in matters related to voting throughout the entire state of North Carolina and throughout the United States. Cities and counties still may be sued for voting practices that have a discriminatory effect, as may the state. The decision in Shelby County v. Holder, which for all practical purposes killed Section 5, has no effect at all on Section 2.
Changes from the North Carolina General Assembly
In an act entitled the Voter Information Verification Act (H 589, SL 2013-381), the state legislature in 2013 made several significant changes in the administration of elections in North Carolina. The new act is referred to as “VIVA.”
Here are VIVA’s five biggest changes:
- Photo ID at polls
- End of same-day registration and vote
- Shortening of the early voting period
- End of straight-ticket voting
- Mail-in absentee ballot request changes
- NC drivers license
- NC DMV ID card
- Passport
- US military ID card
- Veterans Administration ID card
- Tribal enrollment card
- Other state drivers license if the voter moved to NC recently
- Public financing of judicial and three executive branch races ended
- Pre-registration of 16- and 17-year olds ended
- More observers
- More people eligible to challenge voters
- Presidential preference primary moved earlier
- Out-of-precinct provisional voting ended
- Referendums can be held only on primary or election days
Public Officials - Local and State Government Roles
Topics - Local and State Government