Raleigh, N.C. – Nearly eight in 10 voters agree that a person who wishes to vote should be required to show photo identification before being allowed to vote, according to a new poll released today by the Civitas Institute.
Seventy-seven percent of voters in North Carolina agree that a person who wishes to vote should be required to show photo identification before being allowed to cast a ballot. Twenty percent said they disagree with doing so, and two percent said they have no opinion or do not know.
Despite media claims and heated rhetoric during the recent legislative session, requiring photo identification before voting remains a bipartisan issue: Republicans (94 percent), unaffiliated voters (82 percent), and Democrats (62 percent).
“Civitas has not polled on voter photo ID since before the 2011 legislative session when support of the legislation stood at 82 percent. It was surprising to see that support for it hadn’t dropped more considering inflammatory arguments and accusations made by legislators who opposed voter photo ID during the 2011 session,” said Civitas Institute elections analyst Susan Myrick. “Support for the photo ID legislation continues to extend across all demographics, including age and race: white voters (81 percent), black voters (64 percent), and Hispanics (79 percent).”
The Civitas Poll is the only regular live-caller poll of critical issues facing North Carolina. For more information on Civitas polling see http://www.nccivitas.org/category/poll/.
Full Text of Question:
“Do you agree or disagree that a person who wishes to vote should be required to show photo identification before being allowed to cast a ballot?”
Total Agree – 77%
Total Disagree – 20%
Strongly Agree – 67%
Somewhat Agree – 10%
Somewhat Disagree – 7%
Strongly Disagree – 14%
Don’t Know/No Opinion – 2%
For the full results and crosstabs, click here.
This poll of 600 likely 2012 general election voters in North Carolina was conducted September 22-25, 2011 by National Research, Inc. of Holmdel, NJ. All respondents were part of a fully representative sample of likely 2012 general election voters in North Carolina. For purposes of this study, voters interviewed had to have voted in at least one of the past three general elections (2006, 2008, 2010) or be newly registered to vote since November 2, 2010.
The confidence interval associated with a sample of this size is such that: 95 percent of the time, results from 600 interviews (registered voters) will be within +-4% of the “True Values.” True Values refer to the results obtained if it were possible to interview every person in North Carolina who had voted in at least one of the past three general elections or is newly registered since November 2, 2010.
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History repeat itself….
Proposed North Carolina voter ID law: A modern-day poll tax?
In 1898, when North Carolina Democrats seized control of the state legislature, one of their first steps was to pass an amendment to the state constitution requiring that voters pass a literacy test and pay a poll tax before they could vote.
Supposedly Voter Photo ID puts a burden on the poor, minority and elderly but photo ID is required when applying for Medicare, Medicade, food stamps, welfare, government subsidized housing! Photo ID and verification of need is required when a person applies for a handout but not when they vote. Where is the logic? The fact that the Democrats are so opposed to Photo ID requirements for voting speaks volumes! They claim that many citizens do not have transportation to a DMV to get a state issued ID but oddly enough there doesn’t seem to be a problem getting transportation to the voting polls! Voter fraud was more widespread in the 2008 election than ever before – a trend is starting and we must take the necessary steps to stop it.