In this year’s legislative session Democratic legislators have submitted several bills that attempt to roll back sections of last year’s landmark election reform legislation (the Voter Identification Verification Act – VIVA), and this week’s Bad Bill highlights one of them. House Bill 1239, titled “An Act to Restore the Full Voting Period,” does essentially what the title says. Sponsored by Reps. Larry Hall (D-Durham), Carla Cunningham (D-Mecklenburg), Garland Pierce (D-Hoke), and Pricey Harrison (D-Guilford), the bill aims to add seven days to the one-stop early voting period for elections in even-numbered years.
Beginning with this year’s May 6 Primary, VIVA lessened the number of days for the in-person, early voting period from 17 days to 10 days. While the in-person, early voting window was shortened, the number of total voting hours remained the same as in comparable previous elections.* In addition, the elimination of same-day registration (SDR) took effect during this election.
Election turnout on May 6 utterly refutes the predictions made by critics of election reform who continue to contend that a shortened early voting period will disenfranchise voters. In fact, this year’s Primary Election proved the opposite to be true: Turnout, rather than slumping, increased by 147,700 voters, more than a 2 percentage point increase over 2010. Disproving another claim from the liberal-Left, African-American turnout also increased during early voting and overall – by nearly 2 percentage points.
Even while the early voting period had been shortened by seven days in 2014, 91,630 more people voted early at one-stop sites this year than in 2010. To make matters worse for the opponents of election reform, these numbers make it obvious that SDR was not missed by the voters. SDR allowed voters to wait until the one-stop voting period to register to vote and vote at the same time. In the end, it undermined the integrity of the voting process, and with this election voters have just shown they didn’t really need it.
Because this legislation attempts to reverse improvements in North Carolina’s voting process; ultimately chipping away at voter confidence; and because the latest election proved that 10 days of in-person, early voting combined with up to 60 days of voting early by mail in addition to Election Day, is more than adequate time for the people of North Carolina to cast their ballots, House Bill 1239 is this week’s Bad Bill of the Week.
*Thirty-nine (39) counties submitted request to reduce early voting hours. The State Board unanimously approved thirty-eight (38) such requests.
If the GOP can’t win by competing with ideas and real solutions to problems in our fast changing world, they will try doing it with gerrymandering and voter suppression.
Lonnie,you have had the Democrats solutions for years.How is that working out?We all know Democrats have never Gerrymandered,right Lonnie.Thats how we had those crooks in there for over 100 years.
Larry the nicest, most civic minded people I know are Democrats, with compassion, humanity and ethics. When they recite the Pledge of Allegiance they take the words “with liberty and just for all” serious.
When I thank of NC Democrats with high integrity, I think of Terry Sanford, Jim Hunt, Huge Morton, Sam Ervin and Sue Counts as the political leaders with vision and strong working moral compasses.
That should be Hugh Morton of Grandfather Mountain.
Lonnie,How about Easley,Jim Black and Easleys girl Friday,Bev. Prudue.That’s not counting the ones not caught.
Lonnie,The Democrats never gerrymandered,right?
Larry, I’m telling you who our Democratic political leaders are that represent to best of public service, vision and appealed to the best of humanity not the worst.
Lonnie,I am telling you Easley plead to a felony to keep out of prison.Jim Black went to prison.Bev Perdue won a poll as the worst Governor in the U.S.i think gerrymandering was probably invented by N.C. Democrats.
Lonnie,I forgot. Terry Sanford put a tax on food.How does that help the grinding poverty crowd?The Democrats tax anything that moves,if it doesn’t move,they subsidize it.
The current conservatives in the NCGA gave tax breaks to the wealthiest NC citizens but removed the earned income tax credit, which helped low-income workers.
This is just more redistribution of wealth from the working poor and the middle class to the richest 1% using tax codes and political power for personal gain.
Larry, I find it interesting how you justify the wrong doing of gerrymandering with juvenile morality of “but they did it first”.
Lonnie,
I noticed you left out Terry Sanford’s tax on food.No comment on all the felons in your pack of heroes.If it is juvenile to say Democrats did gerrymandering first,then why did you bring it up in the first place?A one party system for 112 years should make you think.But that would be asking too much.
Lonnie,
After 112 years of Democrats rule why was this state in the bottom 10 or so states in just about everything except taxes.We were number 1 in the Southeast in taxes.I know you would be happier if we were number1in taxes in the whole country.