to the legal battle. A trial ahead of next November's elections would help prevent "irreparable loss" for some voters, said an attorney for the state chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

"It's going to determine whether people actually have the right to vote," said NAACP lawyer Daniel Donovan. "The clock is ticking."

Despite being on opposite sides of the case, attorneys for both the state and federal government asked for the trial to be held in 2015, saying the complex and data-intensive nature of the case required more time to prepare.

The state takes seriously any potential infringement of voting rights but also the right for laws passed by elected leaders to be put into effect, said Senior Deputy Attorney General Alexander Peters.

Republican Governor Pat McCrorysigned North Carolina's sweeping voting changes into law in August, prompting a flurry of lawsuits by various parties, including the U.S. Justice Department, the League of Women Voters, the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP.

The law's critics argue that reducing early voting days, eliminating same-day registration and imposing a photo-identification requirement for in-person voting make it harder for minorities and others who are likely to vote for Democratic candidates to cast their ballots.

In its suit, the Justice Department said black residents comprised 23 percent of North Carolina's registered voters but accounted for 34 percent of registered voters who did not have a driver's license or other ID provided by the state's motor vehicles department.

Republican lawmakers said the changes were needed to combat voter fraud.

The law takes effect