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| Photo: Takaaki Iwabu / Getty Images |
The bill is the strictest of its kind in the nation and has garnered much criticism, leading to the state being the butt of many jokes on political talk shows and late night television.
The 46-page bill was passed over concerns of integrity in the voting process; chiefly with regard to voter impersonation fraud. In all actuality, voter impersonation fraud is non-existent in North Carolina.
More than 300,000 eligible voters - mostly seniors, people with disabilities and minorities - have no valid government I.D. and these changes will add yet another hurdle they will have to clear just to be able to vote.
The bill offers a "free ID" that can be obtained from local DMV offices. Although the IDs are free to the people who need them, the funding will have to come from somewhere.
Try over $800,000 for 2013 and 2014 and then over $24,000 every two years after, according to WRAL. Money that should be spent elsewhere. Additionally, in-state, college-issued student IDs will not be accepted at the polls.
But the ID provisions are just three pages of this 46-page bill. The other 43 pages focuses on even more unnecessary tactics.
These include cutting the early voting period by one week, eliminating programs that pre-register 17-year-olds to vote, cutting same day registration and opening the flood gates for special interests to give secret funds to groups influencing elections.
The only "good" thing to come out of this bill is a hotly contested provision that would have affected North Carolina students who decide to vote at their college rather than at their parent's residence was not included. Unfortunately, the bads - and there are many of them - out-weigh the goods and these new laws will only hurt North Carolina and its people.
We know what McCrory had to say about voter ID but we don't know what he thinks about the other 43 pages. He decided to cower behind a YouTube video.
He said we need photo ID to "board a plane or cash a check" dismissing the fact that flying on a plane or cashing a check are not guaranteed rights laid out in the Constitution.
As director of N.C. Policy Watch, Chris Fitzsimon, put it the people in power in Raleigh are not concerned with voter integrity. They know full well that their policies are unpopular among voters so they are rigging the system to make sure those who disagree with them can't do a thing about it.
There goes democracy in North Carolina.
Breakdown of the Bill from WRAL
Additional Read: UNC and Duke Students Come Together to Fight Voter ID Bill
Try over $800,000 for 2013 and 2014 and then over $24,000 every two years after, according to WRAL. Money that should be spent elsewhere. Additionally, in-state, college-issued student IDs will not be accepted at the polls.
But the ID provisions are just three pages of this 46-page bill. The other 43 pages focuses on even more unnecessary tactics.
These include cutting the early voting period by one week, eliminating programs that pre-register 17-year-olds to vote, cutting same day registration and opening the flood gates for special interests to give secret funds to groups influencing elections.
The only "good" thing to come out of this bill is a hotly contested provision that would have affected North Carolina students who decide to vote at their college rather than at their parent's residence was not included. Unfortunately, the bads - and there are many of them - out-weigh the goods and these new laws will only hurt North Carolina and its people.
We know what McCrory had to say about voter ID but we don't know what he thinks about the other 43 pages. He decided to cower behind a YouTube video.
He said we need photo ID to "board a plane or cash a check" dismissing the fact that flying on a plane or cashing a check are not guaranteed rights laid out in the Constitution.
As director of N.C. Policy Watch, Chris Fitzsimon, put it the people in power in Raleigh are not concerned with voter integrity. They know full well that their policies are unpopular among voters so they are rigging the system to make sure those who disagree with them can't do a thing about it.
There goes democracy in North Carolina.
Breakdown of the Bill from WRAL
Additional Read: UNC and Duke Students Come Together to Fight Voter ID Bill
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