Subject: RE: FOR DWS Review: North Carolina Voting Rights Statement
From: "Paustenbach, Mark" <[email-masked]>
To: Kate Houghton <[email-masked]>, Tracie Pough <[email-masked]>
Cc: Ryan Banfill <[email-masked]>, "Walker, Eric" <[email-masked]>, "Miranda, Luis" <[email-masked]>, "Davis, Marilyn" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 26 Apr 2016 14:00:31 -0700

Just checking on this. :)

Mark Paustenbach
National Press Secretary &
Deputy Communications Director
Democratic National Committee
W: 202.863.8148
[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>

From: Kate Houghton
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2016 3:04 PM
To: Tracie Pough
Cc: Paustenbach, Mark; Ryan Banfill; Walker, Eric; Miranda, Luis; Davis, Marilyn
Subject: Re: FOR DWS Review: North Carolina Voting Rights Statement

Adding Marilyn.

On Apr 26, 2016, at 2:02 PM, Tracie Pough <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:

Kate- we need to have her call rev barber and see how they are pushing back on this.

- TP

On Apr 26, 2016, at 2:00 PM, Paustenbach, Mark <[email-masked]<mailto:[email-masked]>> wrote:

Washington, D.C. - Today, voting rights activists are pursuing an appeal of a U.S. District Court's decision to uphold North Carolina's onerous election law H.B. 589, which ushered in a spate of restrictions designed to make it harder to vote. The Democratic Party believes that voting is our most fundamental rights and is deeply committed to protecting the right to vote.

DNC Chair Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz issued the following statement in light of the new developments in North Carolina:

"While we are disappointed in the U.S. District Court for upholding North Carolina's H.B. 589, the DNC is confident that the courts and the American people will ultimately see these laws for what they are - a cynical political ploy to make it harder for women, people of color, students, the elderly and working families to cast a ballot. These groups of voters represent the Democratic core constituency - and also represent the majority of Americans.

"North Carolina had one of the strongest rates of voter participation in the nation before H.B. 589 was signed into law. The law rolled back the early voting period, eliminated same-day registration, and imposed restrictive photo ID requirements.

"Sadly, North Carolina is joined by several other states making it harder to cast a vote. Make no mistake, this is part of a consistent and concerted effort by Republicans to silence voters who do not agree with the Republicans' extreme agenda.

"As students at a Marquette University polling station faced two hour wait times to vote earlier this month, a Wisconsin Congressman told reporters that the state's restrictive photo ID law would help the GOP defeat Democrats in the fall. That may explain why Republican Senator Ted Cruz recently filed an amicus brief supporting Texas' restrictive photo ID law.

"This is nothing new from Republicans.  We all remember just four years ago when the Pennsylvania Republican House Leader announced that the state's restrictive photo ID law was 'gonna allow Governor Romney to win the State of Pennsylvania.'

"There is ample evidence to suggest that these GOP-backed laws are meant to silence the voices of certain segments of our society that are inconvenient to them on Election Day. While Democrats have gone to court in Arizona to reverse this culture of discrimination and disenfranchisement, Republicans are going to court to defend laws designed to decrease voter turnout - because they believe that when fewer people vote, they have a better chance of winning.

"We are fully confident that these laws, like the one passed in Pennsylvania, will ultimately be declared unconstitutional.  But our work is never finished. The DNC and Democrats across the nation will not waver in defending the right to vote - the most fundamental of all of our rights."