To big applause, Speaker Thom Tillis told NC Republicans at Saturday’s convention that this week he will push through legislation requiring voters to show a government photo ID each time they vote. The bill has been stalled for months as more evidence piled up about it being a waste of tax money and a partisan tool to make voting harder for certain groups of citizens. Republican leaders have tried to negotiate a modified ID requirement with various factions in the General Assembly, but an agreement could not be reached. So be prepared to see the GOP satisfy their Tea Party/base supporters by ramming through the hard-line photo ID bill this week. Then it will up to Gov. Bev Perdue to veto the bill – as well as the bill now in the state Senate to slice a week off the Early Voting period. The New York Times notes that both bills are part of “a well-coordinated effort by Republican state legislators across the country to disenfranchise voters who tend to support Democrats, particularly minorities and young people.”
1-888-OUR-VOTE|info@democracy-nc.org
The NY Times is incorrect. The motivations of bills like this is to protect the sanctity of the voters booth by prevention of voter fraud. We don’t want illegal aliens or convicted felons to vote and we don’t want people to vote more than one time. If a voter must show a photo id to cash a check, surely we can ask them to provide the same level of proof regarding their identity to vote. It’s a small measure that provides security and integrity in the voter’s booth. I’m surprised that Democracy NC is against this proposal to strengthen democracy by providing necessary security.
Would Frank Burns provide some actual evidence to go along with his GOP talking points. Post alink to an article about an arrest or conviction of someone committing voter fraud. Allegations lacking evidence remain that, allegations.
Scott,
Have you read any articles at all or have you heard of a group called ACORN? It was quite prominent in the news on how they were involved with fraudulent registration. Do you realize that there is something called “illegal aliens” in this country? Have you not heard that they make up social security numbers routinely? I’m not aware of any talking points (Liberals like to use them though), but these are facts. To any reasonable person, making sure that illegal aliens and criminals don’t contaminate the voting process by asking them to provide a simple photo id, is not too much to ask to safeguard the election process. The simple risk of voter fraud is too high to not take simple precautions in requiring a photo id. I hope that helps.