GOP, Dems battle over North Carolina early voting rules

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – The swing state of North Carolina could be pushed in a Republican or Democratic direction when the GOP-led State Board of Elections meets Thursday to finalize early voting plans for a third of the state’s counties.

Voting rights activists are watching closely and preparing to return to court if the board makes it harder for reliably Democratic voters to cast ballots. They say this would violate a federal appellate ruling that found Republican leaders intentionally discriminated against African-Americans with a 2013 law designed to keep them in power.

NAACP activist Deborah Dicks Maxwell says “certain people … don’t wish to recognize that it’s our time and our vote.”

Republican leaders deny discriminating against anyone.

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