With the passage of HB 589 VIVA/Election Reform, the North Carolina legislature has produced the first comprehensive updating of our election laws in several decades. Until now our safeguards consisted of voters stating their names and addresses at the time they received their ballots – though in practice most only say their names, and elections officials ask them if the address in the book is correct. The new law modernizes the process by requiring voters to show a photo ID to vote.
A major component of the debate on voter ID is who does or does not have ID. Opponents of the legislation say many citizens will not be able to vote because they don’t have ID and no possible way of getting one before the 2016 elections. These are said to be the disenfranchised voters. We’re told that they are the old and young, women, African-Americans, people with disabilities, and the poor. We’ve heard so much about these voters that we feel like we know them — yet we’ve never met one of them. That’s because they are mostly mythical.
Interesting enough, news reports show the same scenario in all the other states that have written legislation requiring voter ID. Opponents of voter ID tell stories about the massive number of people who will not be allowed to vote, and such critics use questionable reports to back up their claims.
The opponents of voter ID in Indiana, where a stringent voter ID law was passed in 2005, produced a report that forecast 989,000 voters would be disenfranchised. Federal Judge Sarah Evans Barker called the report “utterly incredible and unreliable.” Before Georgia’s law was passed in 2006, the number of disenfranchised voters was predicted to be over 600,000. Yet, in the six years since the law was implemented, the state has issued less than 30,000 free voter IDs.
Since the passage of their voter ID laws, these two states have endured numerous lawsuits where the challengers have failed to produce any voters who would truly be disenfranchised. In 2006, Barker upheld Indiana’s voter photo ID law in a lawsuit brought by the Indiana Democratic Party. In her 127-page opinion, Barker said the plaintiffs had failed to prove their argument that the voter ID law was unduly burdensome and would keep many people from voting.
Barker wrote, “The Democrats, for their part, submitted the names of several individuals who they claim would be unable to vote as a result of SEA 483; however, each and every one of the individuals identified by the Democrats is either eligible to vote absentee, already had acceptable photo identification or could obtain acceptable photo identification if needed.”
Since 2007, Georgia’s photo ID law has withstood challenges in Fulton County Superior Court, U.S. District Court, U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and the Georgia Supreme Court. Georgia’s turnout numbers provide the proof that a voter photo ID law does not hinder turnout among voting groups. With the new photo ID requirement in place, Georgia recorded record turnout in the 2008 election among minority voters. Compared to the 2004 General Election, African-American turnout increased by 42 percent and Hispanic turnout increased by 140 percent, while turnout among white voters increased by 8 percent.
In the 2012 presidential election, African-Americans again turned out in record numbers. In all, Georgia’s turnout with voter ID was 3 percentage points higher than North Carolina’s without ID.
North Carolina has placed safeguards in the new voter ID law to ensure that all eligible voters can vote: 1) The state will issue, free of charge, voter IDs for people who do not have one. 2) If a voter does not have a photo ID or forgets to bring one to the polls, he or she can still cast a provisional ballot. 3) Voting absentee-by-mail does not require an ID.
North Carolina’s new voter ID legislation will begin to bring the state’s election process into the 21st century and will finally begin to restore confidence in our electoral system. The new provisions will protect the rights of all voters to cast ballots, while also ensuring their legitimate votes aren’t cancelled out by fraudulent ones.
what happened to the thousands of online registrations that were allowed in 2012?Are they on the books as valid voters??Heads should roll if they are…where was the AG?
You don’t know what missing votes are until you start counting votes in 2014. You don’t realize how many votes are going to be missing for Republican candidates.
It won’t be fraud, it will be because republican voters will be voting for democrats or not voting because they are fed up with what the republican dominated legislature passed this past legislative session.
What the hell kind of fantasy world are you living in Mr. Dowling? Voter ID has maintained obscenely strong support across the state since before Beveto vetoed the first bill. And Republicans have had the highest support of the law. So explain how this would incentivize them to vote for an ideology which systematically drove this state into the ground over a 112 year period? Sounds more like you’re sore that we’re making it difficult to cheat (when a Dem wails a change is racist, chances are they were benefitting from/abusing the pre-change system. Or is it because the law is burdensome on the because the same people who’re too lazy to register/get ID/go vote without someone bussing them there with the promise of goodies for voting for”change” now have to be coaxed, by lefties, into signing another form.
The vast majority of the bill has absolutely nothing to do with ID. Conservatives keep talking about ID while ignoring the other parts of the bill because they are afraid of NC citizens realizing what is actually in the bill.
Please explain the justification for the following parts of the bill:
It requires state-issued photo IDs but college IDs and driver’s licenses from other states (commonly held by college students) will not be accepted.
It cuts early voting from 17 days to 10 days.
It prevents precincts from extending voting hours.
It ends early voting on Sundays.
It ends same-day voter registration.
It ends early registration for 16 & 17 year olds who will be 18 by Election Day.
It ends campaign ad disclosure requirements such as “I approve this message” statements.
It ends public financing of judicial campaigns in favor of allowing private citizens to donate to judges.
It allows outside groups to spend unlimited amounts between May and September of even years without disclosing donors or spending amounts.
It allows unlimited corporate donations to political parties.
It raises limits on individual campaign contributions by 25%.
It ends requirements for outside groups to disclose their 5 largest donors.
etc…
None of that has anything to do with “Voter ID” which is only a Trojan horse for you to focus attention on while ignoring the other components of the bill. The purpose of this bill is to suppress (liberal) voters while making it easier for people to donate money anonymously. If you feel I am incorrect, please write a follow up article explaining the justification for the parts of the bill I mentioned.
“Before Georgia’s law was passed in 2006, the number of disenfranchised voters was predicted to be over 600,000. Yet, in the six years since the law was implemented, the state has issued less than 30,000 free voter IDs.”
Seems to me that this HURTS the Con cause, since it verifies that many voters ARE disenfranchised thru being UNABLE to get a photo ID.
Naked power grab, Cons, and the voters (yes, we still have many) will not forget nor forgive you next election!