The headline from the NC State Technician says it all:

Professors and students debate, agree N.C. voter law discriminates

 

And the story about the ironically titled ‘Compelling Conversations’ event:

However the Compelling Conversations participants all said the changes are a blatant attempt to suppress certain demographics of voters. They also said that voter fraud is rare and very difficult to actually achieve. 

The participants said that without a tangible threat of voter fraud, lawmakers sought to implement these policies for the sole purpose of increasing the difficulty of voter participation for those demographics that tend to vote democratically. These include college students, most minority groups and lower-income households.

 

Hogwash. JLF’s Becki Gray lays out the facts about the election reform law.

• Voter ID: required. Thirty-three states require voters to present identification at the polls. North Carolina is the 34th and joins a national trend of requiring a photo ID. Two-thirds of North Carolinians asked in several polls favor a government-issued photo ID to vote. 

• Straight-ticket voting: no longer allowed. Fourteen states allow straight-party voting. North Carolina joins the 36 states that do not. 

• Early voting: fewer days but the same number of hours. Fifteen states allow neither early voting nor no-excuse absentee voting. Thirty-two states have early voting periods ranging from four days to 45 days prior to election day, with an average of 19 days. North Carolina allows 10 days but requires the same number of hours of early voting that were available in 2012 and 2010, when the early voting period was 17 days. 

• Same-day registration: no longer allowed during early voting. Only Ohio and North Carolina allowed same-day registration during early voting. Ten states and the District of Columbia allow same-day registration on election day. North Carolina no longer does. 

• Pre-registration: no longer allowed for 16- and 17-year-olds. Five states allow 16- and 
17-year-olds to register before they turn 18. Forty-five states do not, now including North Carolina. 

Sadly, based on the Technician story, election reform facts played no role in NC State’s  ‘Compelling Conversations’ event.