A Senate panel on Tuesday took a look at a bill that would require North Carolina voters to show a photo ID when they go to the polls to cast their ballots.
“I think it does ensure integrity in our elections process,” Sen. Debbie Clary, R-Cleveland, told a Senate Judiciary Committee. “It ensures that you are who you say you are when you come to vote.” Clary said the bill mirrors a Georgia voter ID law. … Clary said she did not have complete information on how much it would cost the state to implement such a program. She said preliminary cost estimates were around $3.1 million.
Sen. Josh Stein, D-Wake, questioned how many people who didn’t have a driver’s license were registered to vote. Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said a crosscheck of elections board and DMV names yielded 891,164 North Carolinians registered to vote that didn’t have a driver’s license.
Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe, questioned the need for such a requirement. “I’m not aware of tremendous voter fraud,” Nesbitt said. He said that about one-third of the people who didn’t have a photo ID were senior citizens who had voted before. He said he suspected if such a law were put into effect, a lot of people would show up at the polls without an ID card.
Full Article: State Senate eyes voter ID bill | eyes, raleigh, senate – Burlington Times News.