There is nothing legally problematic about requiring voters to produce a photo ID as they cast their ballots. But we need to make sure the regulation is implemented fairly and evenly.
RALEIGH — Polls consistently show that North Carolinians favor a law requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls. State lawmakers approved a bill this year to put that requirement in place, but Gov. Beverly Perdue vetoed that bill. Still, the idea isn’t going away. Hans von Spakovsky, senior legal fellow and manager of the Civil Justice Reform Initiative at the Heritage Foundation, discussed the benefits of voter ID with Mitch Kokai for Carolina Journal Radio.
An early order of business for the 2011 General Assembly should be a new law setting tougher requirements when persons both register to vote and cast their ballots.
RALEIGH — On July 16, two days before the General Assembly adjourned for the 2007-2008 legislative session, the Senate Education/Public Instruction Committee called for an impromptu meeting on the Senate floor to push through last-minute legislation that would require public high school staff to assist eligible high school seniors in completing voter registration forms.
Voter registration appears to have surged in North Carolina, but will voter participation follow? The history and partisan implications are complicated and inconclusive.
