Group: NC restrictions deny hundreds of votes

RALEIGH, NC (AP) — An election reform group says two specific portions of North Carolina’s new voting law prevented hundreds of people from having their ballots counted during the May primary.

Democracy North Carolina held a news conference Wednesday to remind people about the voting restrictions and to urge people to register to vote before the Oct. 10 deadline for the November election.

Group executive director Bob Hall says more than 400 people who would have qualified to vote in 2012 had their ballots rejected in the primary because they couldn’t register during early voting or they voted in the wrong precinct. He says a disproportionate number of the voters were black or Democratic.

Three lawsuits want these restrictions blocked for the November election. A court hearing is slated for later this month.

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