LOD: Update on Photo ID, Other Bills

The photo ID bill, known by opponents as the “Voter Suppression Act,” passed its final House vote by a party line vote of 68 to 48. The goal of Democracy North Carolina and other voting rights groups has been to keep the conservatives’ margin of victory small enough to send a message to Gov. Bev Perdue that her veto of this bill could be sustained. We succeeded: The Republicans needed to gain support from at least four House Democrats, as they did with their budget, but they failed. The bill now goes to the Senate for passage next week and then to the governor for, we hope, her veto. Meanwhile, a host of other bills are crossing from one chamber to other, and Republican leaders will be prioritizing what they want passed by next weekend’s anticipated adjournment. Among the bills in play are those to preserve the judicial public financing program but change to partisan judicial elections; end the Council of State public financing program; create an independent redistricting process modeled on Iowa’s, beginning with 2020; slice a week off Early Voting; end straight-party ticket voting; merge the State Board of Elections’ campaign finance division, the State Ethics Commission, and the Secretary of State’s lobbying division into one agency under the control of General Assembly leaders; add rapid disclosure of campaign donations received in the weeks before the General Assembly convenes; make it easier for third parties to have candidates on the ballot . . . .