Editorials: North Carolina Voter ID bill down, but not out | The Asheville Citizen-Times

North Carolina is safe, for the moment, from what appears to be little more than an attempt to disenfranchise people who might vote Democratic. But, as Andrew Jackson once put it, “eternal vigilance by the people is the price of liberty.”

The House fell five votes short Tuesday of the three-fifths vote needed to override Gov. Bev Perdue's veto of a bill requiring North Carolinians to show a photo identification in order to vote. But the GOP performed a parliamentary maneuver to keep the bill alive through the remainder of the 2011-12 session.

Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Cornelius, was unhappy. “I am hopeful that North Carolinians will continue to express their support for this critical issue and that their representatives will respond appropriately,” he said after the vote.

North Carolina: North Carolina House falls short of canceling governor’s veto of photo identification mandate for voters | The Republic

Republican lawmakers failed Tuesday to override a veto by Gov. Beverly Perdue that would have required voters to show photo identification before casting an in-person ballot. The House voted 67-52 in favor of the override, five votes short of what's needed to move it to the Senate.

Republicans argued the photo ID mandate would discourage voter fraud. Democrats said the requirement is unnecessary because reports of fraud are few and that it would only lead to voter suppression, particularly older people, minorities and women.

The override question spurred passionate debate about voting in an era in which citizens show identification to enter government buildings or get on an airplane but only a half-century since blacks in the Jim Crow-era South were discouraged from voting because of the color of their skin.

North Carolina: House to test Perdue on vetoes, repeatedly | The Daily Reflector

As North Carolina House leaders try this week to override Gov. Beverly Perdue's veto of voter ID legislation, they're ready to risk defeat on one of the most politically divisive issues raised by the General Assembly's new GOP majority.

House Speaker Thom Tillis has committed the House to attempt that override and several others during this week's brief legislative session focused on redistricting. An override vote that fails to get a three-fifths majority means the legislation dies until after the 2012 elections. Still, Republicans appear ready to lose some votes to stake out a position for next year's campaigns.

"You'd rather never lose on a veto override. There are some that you are more willing to take that risk than others, because you know it's the right thing to do and the public will know that you did the right thing," said Rep. Ruth Samuelson, who counts votes for House Republicans. "There are some vetoes that are more political than others."

North Carolina: Fayetteville election will go on, even if no one is running | HamptonRoads.com

You could say elections in Tar Heel this year are wide open. No one in this rural town of about 117 registered as candidates for any of its four elected positions, and now the deadline has expired, Bladen County Board of Elections Director Cynthia Shaw said Friday.

"The filing period for Tar Heel was the same as it was for everyone else, and no one stepped up to the plate," she said.

The county elections board declined to extend the deadline for candidate filings, meaning ballots will be printed with blank spaces allowing voters to write in their preferences. "We've had single offices without candidates before, but this is the first time I can remember a whole town not filing for any of the offices," Shaw said.

North Carolina: McCrory pushing for override of North Carolina voter ID bill vetoed by potential rematch opponent Perdue | The Republic

Former Charlotte Mayor Pat McCrory is trying to build public pressure upon lawmakers to support a voter photo identification mandate vetoed by his potential gubernatorial opponent next year.

McCrory this week began a multimedia effort to persuade Democrats to help override Gov. Beverly Perdue's veto of the voter ID requirement pushed by Republicans at the Legislature. An override vote is expected July 25. McCrory lost to Perdue in the 2008 election and is considering a 2012 bid.

Editorials: Bob Hall: Voter ID requirement a step backward | FayObserver.com

Forty years ago this month, North Carolina played a pivotal role in expanding voting rights for American citizens. On July 1, 1971, our General Assembly became the final state legislature needed to ratify the 26th Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18.

A few days later, at a signing ceremony for the amendment, President Richard Nixon looked around the room of assembled young people and said, "America's new voters, America's young generation, will provide what America needs as we approach our 200th birthday - not just strength and not just wealth, but the Spirit of '76, a spirit of moral courage, a spirit of high idealism in which we believe ... that the American dream can never be fulfilled until every American has an equal chance to fulfill it in his own life."

Thousands of miles away, 18-year-old Americans were fighting and dying in Vietnam. The cry of "old enough to fight, old enough to vote" had grown louder through the 1960s, and Congress finally proposed the 26th Amendment in March 1971. It sped through state legislatures, gaining the necessary ratification of three-fourth of the states with our General Assembly's historic vote.

Later this month, the General Assembly will consider several bills with a far different purpose. They aim to restrict, rather than expand, opportunities for qualified voters.

North Carolina: Gov. Perdue vetoes voter ID bill pushed by Republicans | BlueRidgeNow.com

North Carolina Gov. Beverly Perdue vetoed a Republican-written bill Thursday that would require voters to show photo identification before casting an in-person ballot, agreeing with fellow Democrats that the mandate would discourage participation.

"North Carolinians who are eligible to vote have a constitutionally guaranteed right to cast their ballots, and no one should put up obstacles to citizens exercising that right," the governor said in a statement. "We must always be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our elections. But requiring every voter to present a government-issued photo ID is not the way to do it."

North Carolina: Governor Perdue Vetoes GOP Voter-ID Bill | TPM

North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue (D) has vetoed a Voter-ID bill passed by the Republican-controlled state legislature. The proposed law was part of a wave of similar bills that have been pushed by Republican-led legislatures in the wake of the 2010 elections. Like those, it would have required voters to show certain approved forms of photo identification at their polling places, or else cast provisional ballots and then have to prove their eligibility later.

"This bill, as written, will unnecessarily and unfairly disenfranchise many eligible and legitimate voters," Perdue wrote in her veto announcement.

North Carolina: Perdue vows to veto North Carolina voter ID legislation | Statesville Record

Controversial bills that passed both chambers of the North Carolina General Assembly will require voters to present very specific forms of photo identification before being permitted to vote.

The House of Representatives bill --– whose 32 sponsors or co-sponsors include Iredell County representatives Mitchell Setzer and Darrell McCormick --– passed in that chamber by a 62-51 vote. The senate’s version of the legislation, which was sponsored by 30 of the 31 Republicans in that chamber (including all three who represent Iredell), was ratified along a party-line vote.

Democrats, including North Carolina Party Chairman David Parker, have lambasted GOP leaders for the move and compared it to the Jim Crow-era poll taxes that disenfranchised southern black voters for most of the 20th century.

North Carolina: New legislation makes it easier for military overseas to vote | NewsObserver.com

Gov. Bev Perdue Monday signed into law model legislation that makes it easier for North Carolina military serving overseas to vote. Standing in front of dozens of National Guardsmen, Perdue said the legislation was part of North Carolina's efforts to become make the state military friendly.

The bill mandates that absentee ballots be sent at least 60 days before a general election to military overseas. It would also apply to civilians stations overseas.

The measure, which had bipartisan support in the legislature, follows a model law approved last year by the Uniform Law Commission. A report by the Pew Commission of the States in 2009, found that many military stationed overseas did not have time to vote.

North Carolina: Final voter ID mandate appears headed for veto | BlueRidgeNow

Republican-backed legislation requiring North Carolina voters to show picture identification before casting a ballot they know will count is headed Thursday to the desk of Gov. Beverly Perdue, who sounds ready to veto the measure that fellow Democrats have called purely partisan.

The House agreed to minor changes to the bill approved Wednesday night by the Senate. The House vote of 62-51 was well short of the margin that would be needed to withstand a veto. Democrats have been critical of GOP efforts to place additional hurdles on voting in a state with history of civil rights restrictions during the Jim Crow era.

"The voter ID is clearly not in a form that the governor can support," Perdue spokeswoman Chrissy Pearson said.

North Carolina: Voter ID requirement passes North Carolina Senate | NewsObserver.com

Over protests that they would effectively disenfranchise thousands of voters, the state Senate Wednesday night passed a bill that would require voters to show a photo ID. The bill passed along party lines 31-19. It now goes back to the House for agreement on minor changes.

Meanwhile a House committee passed a bill that includes sweeping changes in election law, including eliminating Sunday early voting and same-day registration.

Both bills are expected to get final approval this week and go on to Gov. Bev Perdue, a Democrat.

North Carolina: GOP seeks sweeping election law rewrite | WRAL.com

Just days from the end of session, House Republican leaders have unveiled a massive rewrite of the state’s election laws. Senate Bill 47, introduced with little notice in House Elections this afternoon, would repeal same-day registration in North Carolina, ban straight-ticket voting, shorten the early-voting period by a week, and ban early voting on Sundays (popular with churches for “Souls to the Polls” voting drives).

It would also repeal publicly-financed elections for the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Insurance Commissioner and Treasurer.

The measure also makes changes to campaign finance, creating a new type of account at political parties – a “headquarters” account – that could accept corporate money for operational support, though not for electioneering purposes.

North Carolina: North Carolina bill forcing voters to show photo ID before voting heading to Senate vote, likely passage | Daily Journal

North Carolina lawmakers are moving ahead on legislation to require people to show a photo identification card before voting.

A Senate judiciary committee approved the legislation Tuesday. A vote by the full Senate could come later Tuesday. The measure already has passed the House by a margin too small to override a potential veto by Gov. Beverly Perdue. Perdue has indicated she might veto the legislation.

North Carolina: Asheville-area politicians weigh in on North Carolina voter ID bill | The Asheville Citizen-Times

Debate over legislation requiring voters to show photo identification before casting a ballot has been passionate, with the House Republican majority prevailing on the bill.

But experts like Gibbs Knotts, a political science professor at Western Carolina University, question whether the law's impact will match the rhetoric's heat.

The GOP contends the measure is needed to root out voter fraud and keep elections honest, while Democrats maintain it's a politically motivated scheme to disenfranchise voters who traditionally vote Democratic.

“I think the evidence from people who have studied this is that maybe both sides exaggerate the effect,” Knotts said.

North Carolina: Voter ID bill easily passes North Carolina House | CharlotteObserver.com

North Carolina would join 13 other states requiring voters to show a photo ID under a bill passed Thursday by the Republican-led N.C. House. The measure passed 66-48 along party lines, despite Democratic protests that it would decrease turnout.

Some critics invoked comparisons to Jim Crow-era voting barriers. The bill now goes to the Senate, which is expected to endorse it. It would then go to Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue.

North Carolina: Passionate debate resumes on North Carolina’s voter ID bill | Times Union

North Carolina House Republicans are trying to pass legislation that demands people show photo identification before they enter a voting booth, even though it appears the measure would face a veto from Gov. Beverly Perdue.

The House returned Thursday to debate further a politically divisive voter ID bill after the Republican-led chamber conducted the first of two required votes just before midnight Wednesday following just a few minutes of debate.

The bill was tentatively approved on a 67-50 party-line vote, but the GOP margin falls a few votes shy of overcoming any potential veto. Perdue's office has been critical of the legislation, and Democrats and voting rights advocates have called it a veiled method to suppress voting among blacks, older adults and women.

North Carolina: More debate expected on Voter ID bill in NC | Beaumont Enterprise

North Carolina House Republicans are trying to pass legislation that demands people show photo identification before they enter a voting booth, even though it appears the measure would face a veto from Gov. Beverly Perdue.

The House was expected Thursday to discuss the voter ID bill more after the Republican-led chamber conducted the first of two required votes just before midnight Wednesday following just a few minutes of debate.

Editorials: Big voter turnouts and perceptions of fraud | NewsObserver.com

Since North Carolina Republicans introduced a Voter ID bill in February that would require all citizens to show a photo ID before voting, one thing has become crystal clear. State efforts are part of a nationwide drive to tighten rules on voting. In the past two months no less than 13 state legislatures, all of them controlled by Republicans, have advanced Voter ID legislation.

Sponsors in North Carolina and elsewhere claim showing driver's licenses or a similar card will eliminate voter fraud and, as the North Carolina bill is named, "Restore Confidence in Government." Democrats have countered that there has been no wave of election fraud that needs fixing. Instead, they insist, Republicans are trying to make it harder for the elderly, the poor and the transient - those who often lack driver's licenses - to vote. They compare the measure to historic poll taxes that once disfranchised thousands of North Carolinians.

North Carolina: Voter ID bill given initial OK on North Carolina House floor | NewsTimes

The Republican-led North Carolina House late Wednesday muscled through legislation requiring voters to show photo identification before casting an in-person ballot, despite Democratic accusations the bill is a voter suppression measure designed to boost GOP political fortunes.

By a vote of 67-50, the House gave tentative approval to the voter ID restrictions just before midnight at the close of a marathon day in which General Assembly members considered scores of bills as a self-imposed procedural deadline late Thursday approached. The party-line vote, however, appears to keep Republicans a few votes short of overcoming any potential veto by Democratic Gov. Beverly Perdue.

The measure received about 10 minutes of debate for the first of two required votes before the new day began. House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, pledged a longer discussion later Thursday on the divisive bill.

North Carolina: House’s final decision on North Carolina voter ID bill could come Thursday | Sun Journal

Just a few moments before the stroke of midnight Wednesday, the state House gave its tentative approval to a bill requiring North Carolina voters to produce a government-approved photo ID to cast their ballots.

The Republican majority limited debate on the bill, entitled “Restore Confidence in Government,” to a brief explanation by bill sponsor Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, and short comments by Minority Leader Joe Hackney, D-Orange, and Majority Leader Paul “Skip” Stam, R-Wake.

A final vote on the bill could come on Thursday. House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, said that House members would be allowed to debate the bill fully at that time.

North Carolina: Latest version of proposed North Carolina voter ID bill restricts forms of ID | Sun Journal

House Republicans have thrown another twist in a proposal to require North Carolina voters to provide a photo ID when they go to the polls.

They abandoned an earlier version that would have allowed citizens to show a voter registration card or other approved documents, such as a utility bill or a paycheck, in favor of a strict government issued photo identification card.

“The bill we discussed earlier today was an attempt at a compromise that might have garnered some support from the other side of the aisle,” said Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, a primary sponsor of the bill. “Unfortunately that did not work.”

North Carolina: Republican lawmakers roll out new voter ID bill in North Carolina | San Antonio Express-News

Republicans in the North Carolina General Assembly have rolled out a new version of a bill that would require voters to show identification before they cast a ballot — a proposal they hope will attract support from some Democrats and Gov. Beverly Perdue.

A measure unveiled Tuesday in the House budget-writing committee would still require potential voters to show one of eight forms of photo ID. They could also offer their voter registration card, utility bill, pay stub or bank statement, but precinct officials would match a person's signature against voter rolls before a ballot is accepted immediately.

North Carolina: Lawmakers wrestle with early voting cutoff in North Carolina | The Charlotte Post

The North Carolina Senate will soon decide how early “early voting” can be. The state House has passed its version of a bill to reduce the amount of time polling sites can be open before elections by one week. Republican backers of the idea suggest it will save county governments money, but the people who administer the elections say it would actually cost more.

Bev Cunningham, director of the Henderson County Board of Elections in Hendersonville, says her staff would be much busier for a shorter time period.

”I think if this passed, what we would have to see in Henderson County is probably more early voting sites to handle the number of voters that are accustomed to voting this way,” she said. “They like being able to choose around their work schedule, or just schedule in general, to come vote.”

North Carolina: North Carolina Wrestles with Early Cutoff for Early Voting | Public News Service

The North Carolina Senate will soon decide how early “early voting” can be. The state House has passed its version of a bill to reduce the amount of time polling sites can be open before elections, by one week. Republican backers of the idea suggest it will save county governments money, but the people who administer the elections say it would actually cost more.

Bev Cunningham, director of the Henderson County Board of Elections in Hendersonville, says her elections staff would be much busier, for a shorter time period.

North Carolina: Voter ID laws and limits on early take hold in many states | The Charlotte Observer

North Carolina lawmakers aren’t the only ones pushing for voter ID laws and a shorter period for early voting. This year 19 other states have considered new voter ID legislation. Another 10 have debated whether to toughen current laws. Last week, S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley signed a law requiring S.C. voters to show a photo ID.

And at least two states have sought to shorten early voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Georgia just cut its time from 45 to 21 days. Florida could trim its by six days. The N.C. House last week narrowly passed a bill that would cut the 21/2-week early voting period by a week. Similar legislation is pending in the Senate.

Editorials: Shorter early voting costlier? Just say no! | CharlotteObserver.com & The Charlotte Observer Newspaper

If all other reasons for pulling the plug on a bill that would shrink the early voting period fail to persuade N.C. lawmakers, this one should do the trick. The bill, which would deprive voters of the flexibility to cast ballots during an extended early voting period before Election Day, would increase the cost of elections.

You read that right – increase the cost.

That’s what Gary Bartlett, executive director of the state elections board, said in a memo last week. Mecklenburg County Elections Director Michael Dickerson made similar comments. He said 45,000 county voters voted in the first week of early voting here in Mecklenburg County in 2008. If there is a shorter voting period in 2012, he might ask his board to open 30 voting sites, 10 more than in 2008, to avoid longer lines.

Editorials: Jim Buchanan: Raleigh does voters no favors trying to curb early voting | The Asheville Citizen-Times

It’s been a busy couple of weeks on the election front — specifically, the voting front — down in Raleigh and at other points on the compass.

The NC House, in a 60-58 vote, OK’d a bill to shorten the early voting period in the state. Bad, no good, horrible call, in my view. It’s pitched as a cost-saving move, but it just looks like a formula for creating bottlenecks, aggravation and frustrated voters. A similar measure in the NC Senate goes further, ending Sunday voting and registration of new voters at the polls.

North Carolina: Election Bills give 2012 edge to GOP in North Carolina | NewsObserver.com

North Carolina had the closest governor’s race in the country in 2008, and only Missouri had a closer presidential contest. Both went the Democrats’ way, in large part because of the unprecedented effort in the state by the campaign of presidential candidate Barack Obama. The Obama campaign had a paid staff of 400 with 47 storefront offices.

The effort included a major push to sign up voters early and get them to the polls – particularly African-Americans and college students of all colors. But the Republican legislature is intent on throwing a wrench into the Democratic machine to make sure there is no repeat next year.