WASHINGTON – The Justice Department will sue the state of North Carolina for alleged racial discrimination over tough new voting rules, the latest effort by the Obama administration to fight back against a Supreme Court decision that struck down the most powerful part of the landmark Voting Rights Act and freed southern states from strict federal oversight of their elections.

North Carolina has a new law scaling back the period for early voting and imposing stringent voter identification requirements. It is among at least five Southern states adopting stricter voter ID and other election laws.

The Justice Department on Aug. 22 sued Texas over the state’s voter ID law and is seeking to intervene in a lawsuit over redistricting laws in Texas.

Republican lawmakers in southern states insist the new measures are needed to prevent voter fraud, though such crimes are infrequent.

Democrats and civil rights groups argue the new laws are intended to make voting more difficult for minorities and students, voting groups that lean toward Democrats.