LOD: No Photo ID for NC

One of the few positives that came with the adjournment of the General Assembly earlier this week was a negative: After months of trying, the Republican leadership had to admit it could not find enough votes to override Gov. Perdue’s veto of the harsh photo ID bill, H-351. (For background about the photo ID fight in NC, click here.) The bill is dead – at least until the next General Assembly begins in January 2013 when a new version could be pushed through, depending on who’s elected this fall. A Charlotte Observer editorial today celebrates the failure of the override and points out how difficult it is not to see the Republican effort as thoroughly partisan: “If Republicans really were interested in the integrity of elections, they should not have cut about $600,000 from the budget last month that would’ve unfrozen $4 million in federal Help America Vote funds. Local election officials had pleaded for that money to deal with the complications of new district lines, split precincts and other issues this November.” Gov. Perdue and the legislators who beat back several voter suppression measures deserve our thanks (you can send a quick thank you message to them at this link.) Hopefully, the next set of leaders in Raleigh, of whatever party, will be more respectful of voters. Maybe they can learn something from Republican Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan who this week bucked his party and vetoed a voter ID bill aimed at absentee voters because it would create confusion for voters.