One of the more compelling arguments for voter identification is the suppression of voter fraud. But for North Carolina, the number of cases of voter fraud reported by the state Board of Elections is minimal. In 2012, nearly 7 million ballots were cast in the general and two primary elections. Of those 6,947,317 ballots, the state Board of Elections said 121 alleged cases of voter fraud were referred to the appropriate district attorney’s office. That means of the nearly 7 million votes cast, voter fraud accounted for 0.00174 percent of the ballots. Looking back at the 2010 election cycle — which was not a presidential year — 3.79 million ballots were cast and only 28 cases of voter fraud were turned over to the appropriate DA’s office. So in 2010, voter fraud accounted for 0.000738 percent of ballots cast.
The state Board of Elections acknowledges that far more cases of voter fraud are reported each voting cycle. But the majority of those cases are deemed unfounded and never referred to the DA’s office.
“In those cases where there is reasonable suspicion of voter fraud, the matter is turned over to the appropriate district attorney’s office,” the state BOE said.
Still, the state House is expected to pass sweeping election law changes Thursday evening that would require voters to present a photo ID at the polls. The measure would then move to Gov. Pat McCrory’s desk.
Full Article: Widespread voter fraud not an issue in NC, data shows – WNCN: News, Weather for Raleigh. Durham, Fayetteville.