You Want to Vote? Let's See Your ID
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Have Boards of Elections across North Carolina suddenly been besieged with complaints about sneaky voters casting ballots under fictitious names?
The answer, as far as we’re aware, is no. Moore County Elections Director Glenda Clendenin knows of only one such attempt (unsuccessful) here in recent years. All indications are that voter fraud, if it ever existed on any significant scale, is even less of an issue now than it might have been in years past.
So why, with all the major problems facing the state, is the N.C. General Assembly now giving such urgent priority to passing, within the first 100 days of next year’s session, a piece of legislation requiring all would-be voters to flash a photo ID before they can proceed to exercise that most cherished of democratic rights?
The answer, apparently, is simply that Republicans gained control of the legislature in last fall’s election, and voter IDs are a pet GOP ideological project nationwide. (Only a relative few other states require them.)
The party has only itself to blame if this action is interpreted — fairly or not — as a slap in the face by those among us who are least likely to have photo IDs: poor people and minorities. It is strictly a coincidence, we’re sure, that those segments of the population also just happen to be the ones most likely to vote Democratic.
We live in the South, a region with a past history of poll taxes, “grandfather clauses,” literacy tests and other efforts to discourage black voting. Those critics who would lump voter ID requirements in with those atrocities are overstating their case. Still, given the partisan realities involved, the motivation of the whole thing is up to question.
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Comments
truthmatterstome2 2 years, 5 months ago
If you're going to write an editorial it seems, to me, that you would attempt to include the truth in your statement. The idea that the GOP is responsible for "a relatively few" states requiring IDs is simply a lie. The last time that I checked there were 50 states. Of the 50, 27 states currently request/require IDs. That is a majority of the states. The majority of those who require IDs are NOT Southern states. However, due to concerns about the continued illegal immigration, more states will soon require IDs. You sound like Harry Reid and Nancy Pilosi. If the truth doesn't suit you, then just make up your own, maybe someone will believe you.
publius 2 years, 5 months ago
@truthmatterstome2-
CharlieOneHorse 2 years, 5 months ago
No ID No Vote..............
Mark106 2 years, 5 months ago
But.....If an ID had been required for ALL voters we could very possibly have a different President right now! ACORN, ACORN, ACORN Now we know why Lib's are opposed.
RonE 2 years, 5 months ago
You must have a picture ID to operate as an adult in this, and most any society. I'd love to see the evidence supporting the claim about the poor and minorities being less likely to have a picture ID. You can't cash a check or drive w/o one. If you're under 30 you may not get in a bar or even buy some smokes w/o one. A picture ID would deter non-residents as well as illegals from voting. Yes, those segments of the population just happen to be the ones most likely to vote Democratic. I'm not sure this should be a point of pride for the Dems. Asking for a photo ID isn't preventing anyone from voting assuming they meet the legal requirements to do so. And, of course you want every vote to be legal, right?
nothingspecial 2 years, 5 months ago
Give me a break with the class warfare about the unfortunate poor and minorities who don't have a photo ID and are being excluded by the evil Republicans. What a crock.
JER 2 years, 5 months ago
Mark106: And if we had a different Supreme Court in 2000 we would have had a different president then as well. Questionable tactics occur at both ends of the social / economic spectrum. That being said, I agree that showing ID to vote is certainly no big deal and will not prevent any legitimate voter from casting a ballot for the candidate they support.
Bradford835 2 years, 5 months ago
That has to be one of the most intellectually dishonest editorials I have ever read. Honestly, The Pilot has just become a rag for washing windows.
pinehurstmom 2 years, 5 months ago
Bradford835-you are too kind. My husband says it's only good for training puppies!
My husband and I have long complained how ridiculous it was that ID's were not required. You need an ID for everything in life. Both Democrats and Republicans should be happy with a measure that cuts down on voter fraud. No ID-no vote!!
JohnChappell 2 years, 5 months ago
I used to live in a country where nobody carried any form of identity documents. Drivers licenses had no photos, and were only used to show one had the privilege of operating a motor vehicle on public highways.
Movies in that country often had scenes where some character would say, “Show me your papers!”
We knew such demands were a villainous acts of tyranny. We were happy we lived in a free country with liberty secure.
We were in a great war at the time, too -- but never felt so afraid that we wanted to join the weak nations of the earth where people lived in fear and had to carry papers.
I sure miss that country. It’s name?
The United States of America.
pinehurstmom 2 years, 5 months ago
John-welcome to the post-9-11 United States of America. We didn't create this problem, but we can either get with the program or sit around and complain!
JohnChappell 2 years, 5 months ago
Hi mom --
We had much more fearsome adversaries following the attack on Pearl Harbor, but we didn't give up our liberties. It is so easy to make fake photo ID cards on any home computer that I fear having them is more dangerous than not having them. These incursions limit our freedoms without protecting us from our enemies, in my view.
I hate the fear of strangers that has been growing in this country over the past decade.
When I place my hand over my heart to pledge allegiance to our flag, it is to a republic with liberty and justice for all. To that end, I oppose injustice and loss of liberty.
In the simplest age-old sense, "liberty" means travel. If you cannot — in anonymity — go about your business, move about, get on an airplane for example, you are not free.
Let us hold fast to all the liberties we have, and try to get more. If we don't, our enemies have already won.
buddysmith 2 years, 5 months ago
i know when some "poor people and minorities" what public assistance they have to show some kind of identification. so why should it be any problem to show some id to vote? I dont get this story, a waste of paper in my opinion!!!
JER 2 years, 5 months ago
pinehurstmom: "We didn't create this problem..." . On this point, I disagree.
cornbread 2 years, 5 months ago
One issue I haven't seen mentioned here yet is... money.
If the NC GOP is going to demand hundreds of thousands of new IDs printed and mailed, how much will it cost?
If the NC GOP is going to give these hundreds of thousands of new IDs to the less fortunate (disabled, poor, etc) for less than cost, where is the money coming from?
Has anyone done a fiscal analysis of this extra ID suggestion?
If not, why not?
pinehurstmom 2 years, 5 months ago
cornbread-what the heck are you talking about? Everyone needs a picture ID whether it's to drive, to collect social services, to travel, to work, etc. If you want to vote, figure it out-NO EXPENSE to the government-and stop putting it on the GOP. Preventing voter fraud is good for everyone!
cornbread 2 years, 5 months ago
@pinehurstmom -- You obviously have no idea about the proposal or the number of people involved.
Everyone does not drive, etc.
It is on the NC GOP because it is a NC GOP proposal. That's why it's being written about now -- because the NC GOP is talking about writing a new law.
What no one is talking about -- GOP, Dem, editorial author or commenter, is how to pay for this proposed new law.
Do some research (start with teh Google) then come back with intelligent discussion.
fugitiveguy 2 years, 5 months ago
"@ JohnChappel Don't quite see how having to show my ID to vote is taking away my libertys."
thats because it doesn't. It is a silly notion. Proving your identity when casting a ballot simply insures the integrity of the vote. You have to ask yourself why would anyone want to jeopardize the integrity of the vote? I recently sat for a boards exam, I had to show not one but two forms of identification and have my picture taken before starting the exam. It never occurred to me that my liberties were being infringed upon. Opposition to this common sense measure always, always comes from the left. Shocking!!
Bradford835 2 years, 5 months ago
@ JohnChappell, and once upon a time bank loans were made on a handshake. Welcome to the 21st century. I can only assume an alterior motive to anyone who does not want an ID check to vote. The law requires you to be 18 to vote. The law also requires all citizens over 18 to carry ID. What's the problem?
Bradford835 2 years, 5 months ago
One last thing....If I don't have to show ID to vote should I still have to show one to buy a gun?
JohnChappell 2 years, 5 months ago
The problem is the same one my staunch Republican father told me GOP Sen. Robert A. Taft worried about in 1946: the SSN was in danger of becoming a national identity number and the card a national identity card — a bad idea for a free society.
That is why — apparently thanks to Taft — my first card had printed on it "FOR SOCIAL SECURITY PURPOSES — NOT FOR IDENTIFICATION."
You can see an image of such a card here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Soc...
You see, even a highly regarded conservative senator — who was almost nominated instead of Eisenhower for the presidency — worried about Americans having to "show papers." Numbered cards were a step in that direction, a step he fought to stop.
The reason ID papers/cards are an incursion on liberty is simple. You lose the ability (and thereby the right) simply to move about privately, without the government knowing or being able to track you: liberty in its most basic sense.
You think voter ID is about vote fraud? Phooey. There is hardly any of that in actuality. This is a "solution " in search of a problem. Many comments from people who feel safer prove my point about a growing culture of fear. Fear is the danger. Fear can lead to tyranny; always has.
jimt 2 years, 5 months ago
I don't have any problem with requiring somekind of I.D. at the polls. But I think too many voters vote who are too ignorant (not stupid, stupidity is something entirely different from ignorance) to vote. So let's require something William F. Buckley suggested decades ago: require those registering to vote for the first time to pass the same test on American history and government that applicants for naturalized citizenship are required to take. Thomas Jefferson felt the best guarantee of American freedom and progress would be a nation of "yeoman," farmers; that is, educated men capable of using reason and discernment to guide their actions as citizens and their voting decisions.
This requirement would still fall way short of what Jefferson envisioned, still it's a start and might reduce the impact of "LIV's" (low information voters), on our national politics.
fugitiveguy 2 years, 5 months ago
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nothingspecial 2 years, 5 months ago
Sounds like a good idea, JIMT
RmeMP 2 years, 5 months ago
1 - I find it interesting that there is NO NAME attached to this editorial.
2 - As for the first paragraph, google ACORN.
3 - "Cornbread" is worried about who's going to pay for this; "Cornbread is worried about the "hundreds of thousands" of people who don't have a photo ID in this state (LOL, really?).
If someone is TRULY concerned about not being able to vote because they don't have an id, then they shold go to the DMV and request a State issued ID - it doen's HAVE to be a drivers license.
This is not a "partisan" issue, as much as one particular party likes to make it sound like one. This is an issue about trying to prevent voter fraud, a fraud which destroys the one thing every American should utilize - the right to vote, and to a FAIR vote!
fugitiveguy 2 years, 5 months ago
"The reason ID papers/cards are an incursion on liberty is simple. You lose the ability (and thereby the right) simply to move about privately, without the government knowing or being able to track you: liberty in its most basic sense."
Totally false. Nice touch throwing in "papers" for dramatic effect.
jimt 2 years, 5 months ago
Thanks for the compliment "nothingspecial". Just curious, do you think you could pass the test? Based on the content of a number of your previous posts, I sometimes wonder.
Sean 2 years, 5 months ago
jimt, I think that is how the Voting Rights act came about.
The fact is politicians need to hear their own name. They need to save their constituents from a terrible evil... If not, how will they get re-elected? There are sooo many laws on the books today that they often have to create the evil as well as the solution. That seems to be the case here. Someone please post a link to data that shows this is really an issue in NC... Chicago now.. Maybe..(Joke)
MikeNC 2 years, 5 months ago
Want to get married? Have to show ID. Want to cash a check? Have to show ID. Get stopped by Police. Have to show ID. Want to fly? Have to show ID AND get a good pat down. Want to vote? No ID, No Problem. Diane McLellan
hometown24 2 years, 5 months ago
Kudos, Bravo, Standing Ovation to the person responsible for trying to get some type of legislation in place, regarding showing your ID to vote. My wife and I were just discussing, in November, how easy it would be to vote twice. I think this is wonderful news!!!
JohnChappell 2 years, 5 months ago
Newspaper editorials are not signed by any particular writer, because they are the view of the paper itself. They often have more than one writer's work in them.
However, they are all signed, every one.
Every editorial in our paper is signed: The Pilot.
nothingspecial 2 years, 5 months ago
JIMT, sounds like if you're grading that test for voters I probably wouldn't pass! I'm an ignorant (not stupid) Republican. I guess that means I'm smart enough to study but won't. Or don't know where the books are.
jimt 2 years, 5 months ago
nothingspecial, the tests are multiple choice with each question having just one correct answer. The political leanings of the grader are thus rendered irrelevant. Give 'em a try. Just go to the Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization website to take practice exams. They are seemingly endless. Late one night, after many a glass of single-malt, I got 79 out of 80 correct before I quit (and I think I could argue about the one I missed). Good luck!
RmeMP 2 years, 5 months ago
@johnchappell -
let me please start by saying that i respect everyones personal view, no matter how much i may disagree with it - i will never tell someone they are not entitled to said view; now that i've said that, let me explain MY view on how dissapointed i am in the fact the "the pilot", according to you, is apparently a left leaning biased newspaper - as this article sure is...
according to you, since their is no particular name associated with this "editorial", this is the view of "the pilot" as a whole...
since when did a newspaper become associated with one political party? if i'm wrong PLEASE tell me - but first, i would ask you to read this "editorial" and either put a name to it - or else stay with what you just said and continue claiming that "the pilot" thinks that the republicans have an ulterior motive of removing the "poor and minorities for the voting poles" - which is what this "editorial" implies...