Washington, DC--Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and DNC Voting Rights Institute Chair Donna Brazile issued the following statement to commemorate the forty-third anniversary of the signing of the Voting Rights Act by President Lyndon Johnson in 1965:

RALEIGH --- Republican Auditor Les Merritt once again raised the specter of voter fraud without actual proof.

Mr. Merritt’s office hinted to reporters that they might have information about alleged irregularities in voter registration. But when asked to provide proof, Merritt’s office said they wouldn’t release the information until after the November election.

“The state elections board cannot fix any alleged problems unless Mr. Merritt says what they are and provides evidence to substantiate his claims,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek. “Either Mr. Merritt is incompetent or he has another agenda here.”

Washington, DC - Reverend John Hagee this week apologized for his offensive comments about Catholics.

Despite spending a year courting Hagee's endorsement and refusing to distance himself from the controversial pastor, John McCain reportedly played no role in the apology. McCain has repeatedly refused to publicly denounce Hagee's discriminatory comments about women, African-Americans, America Muslims or LGBT Americans or renounce Hagee's endorsement.

"Now that Reverend Hagee is apologizing for his anti-Catholic comments, does John McCain think that Hagee should also apologize for his other comments? If so will he have the courage to say so publicly? said Democratic National Committee Communications Director Karen Finney.

The offensive ad is scheduled to air on the same day as Cheney’s Raleigh fundraiser.

North Carolina Democratic Party Chairman Jerry Meek today called on Vice President Dick Cheney to demand that state Republican leaders withdraw a degrading and divisive ad, or himself withdraw from a scheduled fundraising trip to North Carolina.

Cheney is slated to raise money on Monday in Raleigh on behalf of the state Republican Party’s “Victory Fund”.

NCGOP leaders are adamant that a controversial ad will begin running the very same day.

The North Carolina Democratic Party pauses today to mark the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. King was murdered at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee, where he was to lead sanitation workers on a protest against low wages and unsafe working conditions.

This grim anniversary comes at a time when Democrats are poised to elect the nation’s first African-American or female President.

We carry the embers of Dr. King’s unfinished work as Democrats have successfully worked to increase state and federal minimum wage rates.

Winston-Salem Journal Editorial
Tuesday, January 15, 2008

The U.S. Supreme Court will decide whether Indiana’s harsh voter-identification law is constitutional. Let’s hope that at least five justices remember that the Constitution is built on the principle of free elections.

Indiana, Georgia and Florida are the only states that require voters to present a government-issued identification card each time they vote. That requirement has created a barrier to voting for the poor, disabled and elderly.

Some people might think that a government-issued photo ID is no big deal. And for most of us it isn’t. One judge in a lower-court opinion even said, in upholding the constitutionality of the law, that everyone in the courtroom that day needed such a card to get through courthouse security.

“It is exceedingly difficult to maneuver in today’s America without a photo ID,” Judge Richard A. Posner wrote a year ago for the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court.

Titan Barksdale, News and Observer

A federal judge has allowed NAACP attorneys to challenge a federal redistricting lawsuit that they say could weaken black voting strength in North Carolina and jeopardize the seats of 16 black legislators in districts across the state.

William Barber II, president of North Carolina chapter of the NAACP, said today that the suit promotes concentrating black voters into a single district and undermines the intent of the federal Voting Rights Act .

The drawing of legislative district lines, done by the legislature every 10 years, is subject to the federal Voting Rights Act. The act requires states to create election districts that do not dilute minority voting power.