GARY D. ROBERTSON
Associated Press
RALEIGH, NC (AP) -- A key leader in the North Carolina General Assembly says voter identification legislation will pick up steam again because the US Supreme Court has struck down part of the Voting Rights Act.
Senate Rules Committee Chairman Tom Apodaca said Tuesday a bill will come out next week now that justices have ruled a key provision of the federal law cannot be enforced unless Congress changes rules on which areas of the country still need to be monitored.
A voter ID bill was approved by the House in April but has sat in Apodaca's committee ever since. He said Senate leaders were waiting for Tuesday's ruling before moving ahead. The ruling means any statewide election law does not need advance approval from federal attorneys or judges before being implemented.
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