WRAL-TV has a lengthy news report tonight on the upcoming controversy about requiring NC voters to show a photo ID each time they vote. The viewer may think a legislative proposal has already been filed but the NC General Assembly doesn’t begin until January 26; the reference in the WRAL report is to a bill filed in 2009 that is now dead. Also, the 27 states referenced in the report include those that accept a wide variety of non-photo ID documents or, if none is produced, a signed statement affirming the voter’s identity. North Carolina law requires voters to sign such a statement; lying amounts to committing perjury, a felony offense. Only two states – Georgia and Indiana – require voters to show a government-issued photo ID each time they vote.
Voting Rights Category
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Voter ID – 1/11/11
Tuesday, January 11th, 2011
The Pope Civitas Institute is trumpeting a poll designed to help Republican lawmakers who want NC voters to show a government-issued photo ID each time they vote (except, oddly, for when they vote through the mail). The Pope Civitas poll says 83% of voters would approve a government ID requirement. And it claims that 99% of the respondents say they have “an official photo ID, such as a driver’s license, an ID card from the DMV, a military ID or a U.S. passport.” This last number may indicate the misleading nature of this poll or who it polls: We suggest you ask the people at your workplace (especially the younger ones) if their driver’s license has an old address; we bet you’ll discover that more than 1% don’t have a valid photo ID with current address.
Requiring a photo ID may sound like a common-sense protection against voter fraud, but it’s already a felony to illegally vote or to lie when you sign in to vote, a NC requirement. Partisan poll observers and others can challenge voters, and an ID is required to register in the first place. These and other provisions are effective. Cases of fraud that a photo ID would prevent are extremely rare – about two dozen cases out of 4.3 million ballots cast in NC in 2008, says State Board of Elections director Gary Bartlett. Adding more barriers will reduce the pitiful participation we now have in a typical election. (Only 44% of registered voters cast ballots in 2010, or 37% of eligible citizens; that means the Republican majority in Raleigh won with support from barely 1 in 5 voting-age citizens, hardly a mandate.)
So why do Republican leaders and Pope Civitas want to add a new barrier to voting? Because it would mostly affect voters they don’t like, including thousands of people of color, students, people with disabilities and poor voters who don’t have a current photo ID. It’s about political power, tinged with racism. It’s very similar to what the Democrats did 100 years ago when they used the poll tax to disenfranchise black voters who were siding with Abe Lincoln’s Republican Party. Now the tables are turned and the GOP is eager to erect new barriers in state after state. Even observers who think a voter ID may be okay echo The Fort Worth Star-Telegram editorial that questions why Republicans lawmakers would devote so much energy to this crusade rather than focus on balancing the budget, stimulating new jobs, and tackling other urgent priorities.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Friday, January 7th, 2011
A new edition of Democracy NC’s brochure featuring quotes and photographs of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is now available. It includes information about the upcoming H K on J assembly in Raleigh, the redistricting process affecting local and state political districts, the controversial proposal to require a photo ID for voting, and Dr. King’s challenge to keep advocating for positive change. It’s ideal for distributing at King Day and Black History Month events and to local churches and community groups in your area. The pocket-size brochures are provided free. (The brochure folds in half, so part that you view is upside down!) If you want a supply, please send an email with your STREET address for UPS shipment, the quantity you desire, and a phone number in case there is a problem with delivery. Send the info to sprc@mindspring.com.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Tuesday, January 4th, 2011
Legislatures with Republican majorities around the country are chomping at the bit to pass new legislation of vital importance. What could this proposal be that has such urgency and broad appeal among GOP lawmakers? A plan for stimulating new jobs? An answer for balancing the state budget? No, the new legislation pretends it addresses the fictionalized problem of widespread voter fraud – sort of like an urgently needed law to stop the wild boar from tearing up your front lawn. Why would Republicans devote so much energy to such legislation? Here’s a national perspective of why the fixation on voter fraud is a case of “misidentified priorities.”
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Thursday, December 30th, 2010
For better or worse, a gaggle of “firsts” this year will have a lasting impact on North Carolina politics. Here’s the Top 10 list from Democracy North Carolina. Happy New Year!!
Friday, December 17, 2010
Friday, December 17th, 2010
Ten years ago this week, the US Supreme Court in Bush v. Gore turned over the White House to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, the losers of the national popular vote. The blatantly political decision to stop the Florida recount launched a new era of anti-social ideologues undermining the rights of real people in favor of corporate special interests in fields ranging from environmental protection to foreign policy, trade relations to criminal justice. The Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, coming a decade later, is a product of the same elitist mentality: diminish voter’s rights by maximizing the influence of private wealth in elections. On the anniversary of Bush v. Gore, John Nichols of The Nation proposes five practical reforms to increase voter participation. Also this week, the Nigerian government dropped its bribery charges against former VP Dick Cheney and other Halliburton officials after the company agreed to pay $250 million in fines. Halliburton had previously admitted to US authorities that it used bribery when Cheney led the company to gain a $6 billion contract with Nigeria. The background of this telling story of Cheney’s earlier corrupt leadership is at the Link of the Day for December 10, 2010.
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Tuesday, December 7th, 2010
Following up yesterday’s post about the NC Republican’s quest to ban certain citizens from voting, here’s a marvelous account from the Institute for Southern Studies that unpacks the disturbing parallels between the Democrats’ anti-black, anti-poor Jim Crow laws of the early 20th Century and the Republicans’ voter suppression campaign of the early 21st Century. Highly recommended reading! (You may want to subscribe to the ISS’s Facing South blog while you’re on the site. Democracy NC is a spin off of a project that spun off from ISS about 15 years ago.)
Monday, December 6, 2010
Monday, December 6th, 2010
During their first 100 days in control of the NC General Assembly, Republican leaders say they will push through a bill to require anyone who votes to first show a NC driver’s license or other photo ID. They think it’s a “common sense” way to “stop voter fraud” – but consider who is most affected by such a requirement. Studies show that poor people, people of color, elderly non-drivers, students, and people with disabilities are most likely not to have a government ID with a current address. Compared to the number of people without an ID (6 to 10% of the population), the incidence of actual voter fraud is less than miniscule. Requiring a photo ID is really just a way to reduce the number of voters Republicans don’t like. It’s exactly what the Democrats did after 1898 when they regained control of the General Assembly and instituted the literacy test and poll tax to “stop voter fraud” and purge as many opponents from voter rolls as possible. We’re suffering the legacy of that enforced disenfranchisement still today.
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Tuesday, November 16th, 2010
Here are two quick overviews of the impact of the Republican victories on redistricting in the state and nationally. In North Carolina, the General Assembly will redraw the lines for state legislative and Congressional districts; the governor has no veto authority or any other role. In addition, each local governmental body is responsible for using the results of the 2010 Census to redraw the lines where local officials are elected by districts rather than “at large.” That means, for example, that the current (and controversial) Wake County School Board will redraw the political district lines for the members of the school board for elections in 2013.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Thursday, November 11th, 2010
The good folks at NC Policy Watch have put together a baker’s dozen of targets the new Republican majority aims to destroy when they take their seats in the 2011 NC General Assembly. At the top of the hit list is Fair Elections. The goal of the new majority is apparently to gut public campaign financing alternatives, protect stealth intervention in elections by secretive donor groups, and make it harder for voters to participate by eliminating, for example, Same Day Registration. Put limits on voters, not big money.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Friday, October 29th, 2010
The election of the decade is nearly over: The political party that wins majority control of the NC General Assembly will use new Census data to redraw political district lines to maximize its ability to win legislative and Congressional elections for the next decade. That’s one reason why the battles are so intense and complaints are flying. The state Democratic Party accuses the Republican Party of cheating on how it pays for campaign ads, while the Republicans claim electronic voting machines are giving their votes to Democratic candidates. Read the GOP complaint and response of State Board of Elections Director Gary Bartlett, posted on the Board’s homepage; it’s too bad the News & Observer missed so many of the points in Bartlett’s letter in its story this morning. The GOP’s complaint, which escalated today to a federal lawsuit, appears designed to spread cynicism about the voting process and reduce turnout among occasional voters; the GOP benefits this year from an election decided by the votes of a party’s most fired-up supporters. The intensity of the battle has already resulted in voters being intimidated by poll observers at One-Stop Early Voting centers. Democracy North Carolina has a one-page flyer about the rights of voters and urges anyone who sees bullying or inappropriate behavior to call the Election Protection Hot-Line (1-866-OUR-VOTE) or our office at 919-286-6000.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Wednesday, October 27th, 2010
Two front-page stories by the Raleigh News & Observer highlight the perspective of the forces dominating this year’s election cycle: make voting for poor people harder and the influence of big-money political donors easier. The first story describes Tea Party supporters in Raleigh harassing Chavis Park voters by writing down their names, asking them questions, challenging their ability to get assistance, etc. The harassers are following the tactics presented in a training video that a Republican Party official in Pamlico County told the State Board of Elections she helped prepare for the NC Republican Party. Some would say this is an effort to corrupt the election process. Ironically, the other story is about the stepped-up giving by mega-millionaire Art Pope to the Republican cause because he says he doesn’t like political corruption. However, he does like the new freedom the US Supreme Court granted him to use c-4 nonprofits and other vehicles to spread false information about candidates he doesn’t like. So this is the anti-corruption remedy for North Carolina? Chris Fitzsimon of NC Policy Watch gives more details on how these forces will try to undo the momentum in North Carolina for real reform.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Monday, October 25th, 2010
Two websites provide background and instructions, including a video, about the Instant Runoff Voting method being used this year in three local Superior Court races and one statewide Court of Appeals election. The Court of Appeals race, which is the nation’s first use of IRV in a statewide general election, has a certain historical fascination. In 2008, a black man was at the top of every ballot in North Carolina, in the race for US President. In 2010, a black man is at the bottom of every ballot, in the NC Court of Appeals IRV contest involving 13 candidates. Both men have quite unusual names: one is Barack Obama; the other is Cressie Thigpen. In both cases, voting a “straight party” ticket would not include a vote for or against them; voters must vote in the Presidential and Court elections separately. Both men graduated from prestigious law schools, taught at other law schools, and gained prominent endorsements across race and party lines for their campaigns; Thigpen is endorsed by white Republican and Democratic former chief justices of the NC Supreme Court. Obama and Thigpen were both born in the month of August. And so on.
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Thursday, October 21st, 2010
A hat tip to Art Pope’s Civitas Institute for providing two practical, fairly objective services without overt ideological interpretation (no doubt they’re offered this year because the GOP is promoting Early Voting, but anyone can use these tools). One service tracks the use of absentee voting; caution: counts of mail-in ballots and in-person ballots cast at Early Voting sites are combined for one total, so these figures are not just the results at One-Stop Early Voting centers. You can look up your county or follow changes in the statewide profile of who’s voting early. The information comes directly from a file that the State Board of Elections updates daily, which you can download at the Board’s ftp website. The second service is a handy link to the location of any county’s Early Voting site(s) that allows a person to map a travel plan to the site. Pretty nifty.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
The Washington Post reports today that a study of felony disenfranchisement laws has found that 800,000 former felons have returned to the voter rolls in the past decade thanks to a push by criminal justice advocates and civil rights groups — including Democracy North Carolina — to rewrite state laws and eliminate various voting barriers aimed at felons. In NC, ex-felons can re-register to vote once they have completed their sentences, including probation and any parole. In NC, ex-felons can re-register to vote once they have completed their sentences, including probation and any parole. Read the full article here. Unfortunately, the report incorrectly says a former felon in North Carolina “can register to vote after filing a certificate demonstrating unconditional discharge and the restoration of voting rights with the county of conviction or residence.” The truth is this: Voting rights in North Carolina are automatically restored upon completion of the sentence, no special document is needed, and the individual can register like any other citizen.
