Asian Voters at a North Carolina Polling Station Forced to Write Out Their Names Before Being Allowed to Cast Ballots
Stephen D. Foster, Jr. reports on a troubling incident that occurred during a recent North Carolina primary. Rudy Ravindra, a North Carolina resident, and his wife encountered a spelling test while attempting to exercise their right to vote.
The incident took place in a state with a history as a former slave state in the Confederacy, making it particularly embarrassing for its citizens. The voter ID law in North Carolina, which has been criticized for reminding some people of literacy tests used during the Jim Crow era to prevent minorities from voting, is subject to over-interpretation by overzealous officials.
Ravindra, whose legal name is Rudravajhala, and his Caucasian friends voted at different polling places. Interestingly, the Caucasian friends were not required to pass a spelling test and were allowed to vote after a cursory glance at their IDs.
Ravindra wrote about his experience in an op-ed for the Raleigh News & Observer, detailing how he and his wife were the only brown-skinned individuals at both polling stations. During the spelling test, Ravindra's poll worker made a mistake when typing his name and had difficulty pronouncing it correctly.
Despite white voters not being subjected to such harassment, a different poll worker conducted the same spelling test for Ravindra's wife. However, it's important to note that poll workers in North Carolina are not allowed to test voters.
Following the incident, the State Board of Elections director apologised for the couple's experience and confirmed that poll workers are not supposed to force people of colour to pass spelling tests in order to vote. Ravindra was declared a "perfect voter" and allowed to cast his ballot after the spelling test.
The incident serves as a stark reminder of Jim Crow-like practices still existing in some red states. The voter ID law in North Carolina, which was passed by Republicans in 2013 and considered one of the most restrictive in the country, continues to be a subject of controversy and debate. The article was published by PFAW on March 21, 2016.
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