On Thursday, North Carolina Senate Republicans unveiled yet another new voter ID law that would suppress the rights of voters throughout the state. Since the US Supreme court overturned key provisions in the Voting Rights Act last month, new voter and election laws have been popping up all over the country and no longer need approval from the Department of Justice.
Republicans are claiming that these new bills, seven so far, are an effort to curtail voter fraud. Since the year 2000, there have been a total of 22 cases of voter fraud in North Carolina. Of those cases, 15 were committed by voters, five were committed by election officials, and two were committed by campaign officials.
Here is a rundown of the bills being introduced and the effects that each would have on the voters. For a status of each of these bills, you can visit North Carolina General Assembly online.
- Senate Bill 428: Filed March 26, 2013. Effective Jan. 1, 2014. This is the much heard about Voter ID Law. The bill eliminated more than half of the already accepted forms of ID, including student ID’s on college campuses. The only forms of acceptable ID will be driver’s licenses, passports, non-driver IDs and military or veteran cards.According to data compiled by Democracy North Carolina, a state board of elections analysis pinpoints which demographics will be most harmed by the Voter ID Law.Out of the 6.4 million voters in North Carolina, 318,643 voters do not have any form of recognized state ID that would enable them to vote. African-American’s comprise 34 percent of that number, women comprise 64 percent of that number, and Democrats comprise a staggering 55 percent of that number compared to 21 percent of Republicans. Legislators have claimed that they will provide state issued ID’s to these voters at no cost to them, but in truth it is the taxpayers that will be funding the cost of this legislation once it passes.
- House Bill 451: Filed March 27, 2013. Effective Jan. 1, 2014. Straight-party voting is a quick and convenient voting option that allows voters to select the completion of their ballot by party. However, currently in North Carolina the option also requires that each candidate be individually selected regardless of party. It has in the past confused voters, but instead of changing the ballot itself, legislators are removing the option altogether.? This bill will also change the span of time for early voting and eliminate same-day registration.
- Senate Bill 721: Filed April 2, 2013. Effective Jan. 1, 2014. This bill requires that any ex-felon, after serving their sentence, wait a period of 5 years before applying to the board of elections for voter registration. Once applying to the board of elections with 2 affidavits from local voters attesting to the personal character of that former criminal, voting privileges are only granted with a unanimous consent of the board of elections.
- Senate Bill 666 and Senate Bill 667: Filed April 2, 2013. Effective Jan. 1, 2014. Quite simply, both bills revoke the $2,500 tax deduction for parents of students when the student registers to vote at their college campus. Colleges are a prime spot for voter registrations, so these bills would essentially punish parents who send their children to college. The US Supreme Court ruled in 1979 that students have the right to register where they school, rather than the parents residence, so this is more than likely unconstitutional. Senate Bill 666 also eliminates all early voting locations.
- Senate Bill 633 and Senate Bill 668: Filed April 2, 2013. Effective at signature. Each of these bills disqualifies voters based on mental competency. ?It doesn’t make any difference if the person’s mental health problems have anything to do their ability to understand voting.? Any person found mentally incompetent in North Carolina, or any other state, will not be granted voting privileges in North Carolina without a court order stating that person’s mental incompetence has been restored to competence.
Without the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 , there is no longer a system in place to prevent this type of voter suppression from taking place.
Photo by Brentin Mock for Colorlines.
Edited/published by EAP
