We should have assumed when Obama was elected we’d see an explosion of race baiting.
Via Politico:
Civil liberties groups and Democrats are crying foul over the timeline for the election to fill former North Carolina Rep. Mel Watt’s seat in Congress, saying that waiting until November would be a denial of constituents’ rights.
The North Carolina NAACP held a call with reporters Tuesday slamming Gov. Pat McCrory’s decision to hold a general election to replace Watt in conjunction with the November elections, saying the timeline means the state’s 12th District will be without representation in Congress for more than 300 days.
“What we are seeing is a dangerous pattern of denial that does not look like American democracy,” the group’s president, Rev. Dr. William Barber II, said on the call. “What McCrory announced last week, that … because the writ of election would be postponed until November, and more than 700,000 North Carolinians live in that majority-minority district, and because of this pattern of denial citizens of North Carolina will have to go 300 days, almost one year, without their constitutionally guaranteed right to representation.” […]
McCrory announced that the election to replace Watt would follow already established election dates, with a primary in May, a potential runoff in July and a general election Nov. 4.
McCrory cited the various requirements for preparing an election and costs as the rationale for sticking to existing elections. In a statement announcing the timeline, his office cited wanting to avoid voter confusion and a tab of more than $1 million for a stand-alone primary, runoff primary and general election.
An aide to the governor dismissed the criticism on Tuesday.
“Rev. Barber’s continued litigation games both mislead the public and waste needed taxpayer dollars for education and other priorities. These PR stunts have gotten to the point of being ridiculous and should no longer be taken seriously,” McCrory Deputy Communications Director Ryan Tronovitch said in a statement.
But groups including the North Carolina NAACP say the delay is excessive and part of an “extreme pattern of denial” on the part of the Republican governor and Republican-controlled Legislature, pointing to a restrictive voter ID law passed last year that is being challenged in court, as well as fights in the state over Medicaid expansion, unemployment benefits and teachers’ salaries. […]
The 12th District was created after the 1990 Census as a majority-minority district to represent a largely African-American constituency. Watt, one of only two African-Americans elected to Congress by North Carolina in the 20th century, was the representative for the district from its inception until his retirement.