Proposed NC Voter ID Bill

Now in control of the NC General Assembly, Republicans are working to pass a new bill that would require all NC voters to produce a state issued ID at the polls before they are allowed to vote. At first glance this seems like a perfectly reasonable idea, and conservative groups across the state are standing up in support of the proposed legislation. Take for example the Caldwell County Tea Party website, where they insist that everyone in the state, even if they do not have a driver’s license, have a state issued identification card, claiming that the calls for concern are "silly". However, a recent preliminary comparison done by the NC Board of Elections found over a million registered voters in the state whose names or other information were not found in the DMV database after cross referencing was completed. While this number could drop after further comparison, the Board of Elections believes that at least 700,000 registered voters would be without the proper identification to vote. The groups affected most by this legislation would be democrats, composing 50% of the preliminary count, as well as minority groups, with African Americans taking the hardest hit. On top of all of this, most election officials say that instances of voter fraud are very rare, leaving many to question the real motivation behind this legislation. Another interesting facet to this legislation is the cost. The Republicans championed fiscal responsibility throughout this past election, so why is it that they are willing to spend millions of dollars to end voter fraud that rarely occurs in the first place? “Facing South and the Institute for Southern Studies released and analysis showing that a voter ID bill proposed by North Carolina Republicans could cost the state $20 million or more over the next three years, exacerbating the state’s $3.7 billion budget gap”(southernstudies.org). Does it not seem a bit counterproductive to cut funding to education and social programs across the state only to turn around and spend it again to prevent voter fraud that rarely occurs in the first place? 

Sources:

http://www.southernstudies.org/2011/02/report-voter-id-law-unaffordable-for-north-carolina.html

http://www.americanindependent.com/168715/photo-requirement-in-voter-id-bill-could-affect-hundreds-of-thousands-of-n-c-voters

http://caldwellteaparty.org/2011/01/31/nc-legislature-stalling-voter-id-bill/