A state court panel in North Carolina on Monday restored voting rights to more than 55,000 residents who are on parole, probation, or supervised release for a felony.
This is the largest expansion of voting rights in the state since the 1960s, Daryl Atkinson of the civil rights group Forward Justice said. Under North Carolina law, felons had to finish probation or parole before regaining their voting rights, and challengers said this disproportionately affected the Black community — during arguments last week before the court, lawyer Stanton Jones said that Black people comprise 21 percent of North Carolina's voting-age population, but make up 42 percent of those whose voting rights are taken away because of the law.
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