College-issued identification may be rendered useless at the polls if an N.C. Senate bill goes through. The Senate has proposed a version of voter identification laws that is stricter than the House’s. It only allows seven types of ID to be shown at the polls, half of what the House version allows. The seven types would include a driver’s license, special state-issued identification card, U.S. passport, military identification card and veterans’ identification card. If passed, the bill would take full effect for the 2016 elections. The House version would allow students on University of North Carolina campuses and state-supported community colleges to use college ID at the polls. The Senate version takes that option away. Bob Hall, executive director of Democracy North Carolina, said the Senate bill would make it harder for college students to vote.
“These are unnecessary, mean-spirited changes that target and punish college students who want to participate in the civic life of their college community,” he said in a statement, adding the Senate version would make N.C.’s law the strictest in the U.S.
Amanda Carringer, a rising senior at UNC-Chapel Hill, said the Senate version is uncalled for.
“I think that the law seems like an unnecessary restriction that would just make voting more inconvenient to college students,” she said. “I don’t think the law is very conducive to getting young people to the polls, and this age group is difficult to get to the polls anyway.”
Full Article: The Charlotte Post – Voter ID bill limits students’ access.