LOD: Fraud Claims

Advocates for requiring photo ID checks at the polls may delight in a news story breaking in Statesville, where a city council member is charged with voter fraud along with his sister and two of her family members. But all these voters cast ballots in their own names; requiring them to flash a photo document with their name would not have prevented the alleged cheating. So rather than help the ID advocates’ cause, this is another case that highlights how the proposed H-351 will not really address fraud. As editorials this week in Southern Pines and Winston-Salem newspapers make plain, the bill’s claim to “restore confidence in government” is bogus; it’s really about excluding honest people who the reigning political party doesn’t want to vote. Ironically, as a column about House Speaker Thom Tillis points out, his cozy relations with predatory lenders shows he has his own problems with accurate ID information and inspiring confidence in government. Should he, or the lenders, be investigated?