NC: Photo ID vetoed

Some good news in the war on voting.

Today, Governor Beverly Perdue of North Carolina vetoed the photo ID bill passed by the General Assembly. This bill would have required everyone to show a government-issued photo ID in order to get a ballot, even though about 460,000 currently registered voters – including many seniors, minorities, and students – don’t have the right kind of photo ID, . Her veto statement is here:

The right to choose our leaders is among the most precious freedoms we have – both as Americans and North Carolinians. 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.

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. This bill, as written, will unnecessarily and unfairly disenfranchise many eligible and legitimate voters. The legislature should pass a less extreme bill that allows for other forms of identification, such as those permitted under federal law.

There was a time in North Carolina history when the right to vote was enjoyed only by some citizens rather than by all. That time is past, and we should not revisit it.

Therefore, I veto this bill.

You can check out news coverage here and here.

• 

Tags: Governor Beverly Perdue, north carolina, photo ID, suppression is un-American, young voters

Thomas Bates Bio: Thomas is Rock the Vote's Vice President of Civic Engagement. @BatesThomas Email the author at: blog(at)rockthevote.com

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 23rd, 2011 at 7:04 pm and is filed under voting rights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.