Published: Feb 21, 2007 12:30 AM
Modified: Feb 21, 2007 07:49 AM
Identify the N.C. electorate
Normally I restrict my credit card use to buying fuel for my gas-guzzling SUV. But one afternoon a week or so ago I whipped out the plastic to pick up a few big-ticket items. For each purchase that cost more than a tank of gas, the bank that issued the card required the clerk to verify my identity.
At the last stop -- a sporting goods store -- photo ID wasn't good enough. I had to get on the horn and answer a battery of questions before I could take legal possession of a treadmill. The clerk was so embarrassed. But I assured her that the scrutiny was welcome, even if did cause other shoppers to look at me as if I were a parolee. I appreciated the bank's effort to protect my identity and money.
Too bad North Carolina isn't that serious about protecting my vote.
Although I had to show ID when I registered more than a decade ago, I've never been asked to verify my identity before voting. While some see this laxness as barrier-free voting, to me it's an open invitation for fraud. To steal my vote, all a person needs to know is my name. Everything else that's needed to fraudulently cast my vote -- my address and polling place -- is only a few clicks away on the State Board of Elections' Web site. It's that easy.
State Rep. Tim Moore of Cleveland County wants to change that. He and Rep. William Current of Gaston County have introduced a bill that would require North Carolina voters to identify themselves before casting a ballot. Under this legislation, proving one's identity would be a snap. In addition to accepting a valid and current photo ID, such as a driver's license, poll workers could also accept a current utility bill, bank statement, paycheck, government check or other government-issued document that displays the voter's name and address. No photo required.
This is hardly a radical requirement. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 24 states ask voters to identify themselves before voting. Seven require a photo ID.
In Congress there's a proposal that goes even further. The Federal Election Integrity Act (HR 4844), currently sitting in a Senate committee, would establish a national voter photo ID card that would be presented before a citizen could vote in a federal election. While ballot fraud hasn't proven a problem in North Carolina so far, the potential is there and growing, given population growth and expanded voting periods because of No Excuse Voting.
Many voting rights advocates and some misguided federal judges equate voter identification with disenfranchisement of the poor, elderly and minorities. Baloney. The poll tax ghost was exorcised a long time ago. While allegations of targeted voter disenfranchisement are common, actual verifiable present-day cases are virtually nonexistent. The genuine protections the Moore-Current bill would provide North Carolina's legitimate voters far outweigh the imagined wrongdoings of poll workers asking for ID.
Unfortunately, support for the bill appears lukewarm. To my disappointment, opposition exists among the government reform crowd. Bob Phillips of Common Cause worries that the ID requirement would add time to the voting process. That could keep people away from the polls. He also notes that many poll workers know voters in their district, making ID unnecessary.
Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina -- a man who deserves a medal for his work in exposing the corruption of former House Speaker Jim Black -- adamantly opposes any form of voter identification. He doesn't want Big Brother looking over anyone's shoulder in the voting booth.
As he told me, the fact that voter fraud is a felony is deterrent enough to keep voters clean.
Yeah, right. Sometimes the threat of a felony conviction isn't a big enough restraint when it comes to political power. It sure didn't keep Black from going into restaurant bathrooms to accept illegal contributions.
The reforms that Hall, Phillips and others are tirelessly pursuing in an effort to rid North Carolina of the pay-to-play mentality shouldn't be limited to the halls of state government. It makes little sense to focus so much time and energy on potential corruption on the legislative and executive sectors of government, only to ignore the potential for fraud on the electoral side.
The sunshine that reformers want to bring to Jones Street can do just as much good at the polls -- maybe even more.
http://www.newsobserver.com/567/story/545243.html
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