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With Supreme Court Staying Appeals Court Order, N.C. Registration Deadline To Vote in General Election is Today

By Jesse Wood

Oct. 10, 2014. With the U.S. Supreme Court, in a 7-2 vote, staying an appeals court order restoring same-day registration and reinstating out-of-precinct provisional balloting in the state before the November election, the registration deadline to vote is today, Friday, Oct. 10.

Dissenting were Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor.

Attorneys for the State Board of Elections (SBOE) requested the stay after the 4th Court of Appeals order sided with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Coalition for Social Justice last week.

Dale Ho, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said in a statement: “Thousands of North Carolinians will be left out of the upcoming election. More than 20,000 North Carolina voters used same-day registration in the last midterm election. While this order is not a final ruling on the merits, it does allow a law that undermines voter participation to be in effect as this case makes its way through the courts.”

After the U.S. Supreme Court stay, SBOE Executive Director Kim Strach responded, “Please encourage those in your community to register by Friday and to vote in the proper precinct on Election Day. We hope voters will make use of the record-setting number of early voting sites, beginning October 23.”

Voter registration forms are available online and voters who have moved to a new county must submit a new registration. Those who are uncertain of their registration status may view their voter profile online.

For more information on how to register to vote in Watauga County, contact the Watauga County Board of Elections at 828-265-8061 or click to http://www.wataugacounty.org/main/App_Pages/Dept/BOE/home.aspx.

See U.S. Supreme Court Order here: 14A358.