The magazine of the North Carolina Center for Voter Education • Saturday May 19, 2012

N.C. Lawmakers Shouldn't Shortchange Voters

By Devon White
Published: Mar. 22, 2011

RALEIGH - Everyone can agree that North Carolina must take voter fraud seriously. We also must consider voter intimidation and misinformation just as seriously, no matter the form.

Strict laws already appear on the books to stop voter fraud. Yet these laws do not seem enough for some who propose a new photo ID requirement that in the end may open the door to voter misinformation and possibly cause intimidation at the polls through legislative mishandling and bureaucratic bungling.

What history of voter fraud has North Carolina experienced? Alleged voter fraud has occurred in less than a few dozen instances over a period of decades. Of those incidents, an even smaller number required prosecution.

Even though evidence shows that current election laws are effective in curtailing voter fraud, backers of N.C. House Bill 351 say an additional photo ID requirement is needed to protect our democracy.

Sponsors of the bill estimate that $600,000 would be enough to put this so-called anti-voter-fraud legislation into place. Considering that North Carolina has 6 million registered voters, these backers say they need just a dime per voter to stop fraud and inform voters of a new photo ID requirement.

What would North Carolina receive for each dime per voter? Why, it would pay for a laptop, camera and laminating machine for each of the state’s 100 county boards of elections. That equipment would be used to provide photo identification cards to voters who do not otherwise have an ID that qualifies under the proposal, such as a driver’s license. Does this sound fraud-proof yet?

Aside from the unrealistic economics of the proposal, what exactly would the photo ID requirement prevent? Keep in mind that voter impersonation is already a felony. People unscrupulous enough to risk a felony conviction to commit voter fraud might also be crafty enough to utilize their own laptop, camera and laminating machine in perpetrating such fraud.

If advocates of a photo ID requirement truly wish to improve the integrity of our elections, they should support a robust and fully funded public information campaign that educates voters about any new ID requirements. Without a public information component, many lawful voters might arrive at the polls without proper ID. Thus they would face the burden of an additional trip to their county board of elections office to present their photo ID in order to have their ballot count.

A measure requiring photo ID to vote must also provide clear guidance and training for the thousands of poll workers whose job it would be to accept or deny identification cards on Election Day. In the bill’s current form, no penalties exist for poll workers arbitrarily declining to accept legitimate identification, which could just as easily happen as someone attempting voter fraud.

What recourse does a voter, particularly one who is poor and doesn't understand his or her rights, have then when someone in authority says their ID doesn't meet the standard of the law? Such action could occur unless protections exist in the law and election workers also receive adequate training.

For all these reasons and more, North Carolina citizens deserve a deliberate and thorough education campaign, for voters and election officials, when it comes to voter identification. The fact that the state is financially broke is no excuse to not properly fund a significant change to voting requirements. Otherwise, the cost of disenfranchising voters would surely bankrupt our great state.

Ultimately, an additional photo ID requirement to vote could cost the state millions of tax dollars that would be better spent on improving schools or creating jobs instead of combating something that some claim to be a widespread problem, but fail to provide any data to back up.