DOJ To Sue North Carolina Over Voting Law

To vote residents need to present government photo ID

The Justice Department is preparing to sue North Carolina over that state's restrictive new voting law Monday. The lawsuit takes aim at provisions that limit early voting periods and require government photo ID as an illegal form of discrimination against minorities at the ballot box, according to a person briefed on the Justice Department's plans.

Federal authorities are expected to challenge four parts of the state law, passed soon after the Supreme Court in June invalidated a key part of the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act. Those provisions include: the state's decision to cut back on early voting by a week; the elimination of same day registration during that early voting period; the prohibition on counting certain provisional ballots that are not prepared in a voter's specific precinct; and the adoption of a strict photo identification requirement "without adequate protection" for voters who lack that required ID, the person said.