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.

NCDP Chair Jerry Meek announced today that state Democrats would participate in an unprecedented 50-state election protection program to prepare for the 2008 election.

North Carolina will participate in an in-depth nationwide survey to collect critical data on the often confusing and complex sets of administrative practices and decisions governing our nation’s elections. We will work with election officials throughout the state to help identify potential issues so they can be resolved well in advance of the 2008 election.

More specifically, we will work with local election officials to answer critical questions about voter registration, centralized voter databases, voting systems and absentee voting, provisional balloting, polling place procedures and Election Day preparation.

Data collected from the survey will be analyzed to determine the needs of each election locality and the next steps for strengthening the election process in that locality.

“North Carolina Democrats will not rest until every single eligible North Carolinian can register to vote, cast their ballot without fear of intimidation or harassment, and have confidence that their vote will be counted fairly and accurately,” said NCDP Chair Jerry Meek.

“Our commitment stands in stark contrast to what we’ve seen from Republicans both here in North Carolina and across the country,” Meek said. “From false reports of voter fraud and restrictive voter ID proposals to voter purging and voter intimidation tactics, Republicans want to place a variety of roadblocks that keep countless Americans from exercising their right to vote."

U.S. Representative Melvin L. Watt (D-NC), Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, today announced a hearing to consider the implications of the growing use of credit-based insurance scores for consumers. Specifically, the hearing will review a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report to Congress entitled, "Credit-Based Insurance Scores: Impacts on Consumers of Automobile Insurance" and examine its key findings. The hearing will also study the efforts underway by the States to regulate the use of credit-based insurance scores.