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Perdue on local voter ID bills

Post on November 30, 2011 by 11 Comments »

We had this piece earlier today about the N.C. Attorney General’s office finding that an apparent political strategy to try to push voter identification rules through local bills in the legislature unconstituional.

Now, Gov. Bev Perdue has weighed in, and she too finds it unconstitutional. Perdue, the Democratic governor, vetoed the bill in June that the GOP-led legislature passed and would have required that voters show picture ID at the polls.

Here’s a written statement, released this afternoon by Perdue’s press office:

We must continue to be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our elections, but we must not disenfranchise legitimate voters. A law requiring every voter to present a government-issued photo ID will exclude many North Carolinians – including citizens who are poor, elderly, disabled, or members of minority groups – who don’t have those documents, but who are nonetheless eligible and legitimate voters. That is why I supported a compromise measure, which the Republican leaders in the General Assembly refused to even consider.

Passing voter ID laws through local bills is particularly troubling because it threatens to create a patchwork of different voting laws across the state. We cannot go down a path where different counties have different sets of voting rules – a North Carolinian’s ability to participate in the democratic process cannot depend on where they live.  That is wrong, and it would violate the Constitution.

 

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Comments (Closed):11

  1. Frances Jenkins
    November 30, 2011 at 5:45 pm

    I find it unconstitutional to have three members of your staff arrested for violations of elections laws and then claim you knew nothing about it.

  2. Frances Jenkins
    November 30, 2011 at 5:49 pm

    Sarah,

    All that investigation by you of a member of the house and his business dealings and not a word from you on Sitton being paid $24,000.00 off the books. Why not? I cannot believe the double standard.

  3. david esmay
    December 1, 2011 at 8:45 am

    According to the Associated Press, Wake County DA and statements from Martin Nesbitt , all that information came from an internal audit by the governor’s campaign committee, and they turned themselves in. Laroque bilked the tax payers of millions of dollars for his own benefit, and those of his family, associates, and political cronies. That’s a big damn difference.

  4. david esmay
    December 1, 2011 at 8:54 am

    @Frances, why do you spend so much time on a progressive web-site? Is the satellite dish acting up at the trailer park, and you can’t get Faux News? I’m off today so I can counter any point you make with facts. All you neo-con trolls are the same, if facts and evidence doesn’t support your ideology, you simply throw them out, and create your own.

  5. F. Ritz Klenner 5
    December 1, 2011 at 1:29 pm

    @david- BS statements spun by the office of another elected official do not qualify as facts. And why do individuals who don’t support Bev have to be’Neo-Cons’? Maybe they’re just sick and tired of being lied to by’Pubs AND Dems that refuse to fix a system that they and their friends profit from the abuses of.

  6. frances
    December 1, 2011 at 2:52 pm

    David,
    It is not nice to be mean to poor old women. Stop the name calling. You are a bigger person than this. Make your point and leave off the anger and hate.

  7. Frances Jenkins
    December 1, 2011 at 10:48 pm

    Driving home tonight did I hear Leake is sorry he voted not to investigate and as many as nine could be charged? Did I hear correctly?

  8. gregflynn
    December 2, 2011 at 9:50 am

    Frances, you have a computer and an internet connection. By Heritage Foundation standards you are rich. You apparently have a car, or access to one. If you have a refrigerator, stove and TV you might even be part of the 1%. A cell phone would seal the deal.

    There are US citizens with fewer resources and more infirmities than you in our state who have a constitutional right to vote that will be impeded by the Voter ID act as written. Changing the subject does not change the facts.

  9. F. Ritz Klenner 5
    December 2, 2011 at 11:00 am

    @Greg- Your party has already solved that problem with the endless entitlement programs that are abused to the point that the majority of those who receive aid have mobile phones and internet access. If I get stopped ON THE STREET by law enforcement and do not have a government-issued ID, I will be arrested. The only reason that Bev opposes this law is that it would prevent illegal aliens and non-citizens to vote. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH. It’s time to take our government back from those like Bev…and if you don’t like it, GET ON THE BUSES WITH THEM and enjoy their country.

  10. gregflynn
    December 3, 2011 at 5:16 pm

    A drivers license does not prove eligibility to vote. It helps to prove identity. Identity fraud is not a big voter fraud issue. Fake drivers licenses are actually a bigger problem. In NC you will not be arrested simply for not having a government issued ID.

  11. David W Moore
    December 5, 2011 at 12:20 pm

    Governor Perdue is correct; the state cannot, and will not allow individual counties to attempt to circumvent state and federal law for partisan political purposes. Not only are these local commissioner’s acts unlawful, and unconstitutional, but highly irresponsible and wasteful of taxpayers resources.
    I would prefer to see them prosecuted at the state or federal level should they actually attempt to enforce such a decision.