Yesterday Governor Bev Perdue vetoed the Restore Confidence in Government Act, the North Carolina counterpart to a nationwide push by newly elected conservative legislatures to create similar bills across the country.
Nineteen other states have considered Voter ID bills this year alone, many of which also place restrictions on early voting. Each bill has been introduced by Republicans.
South Carolina passed a similar bill requiring photo identification to vote which was ultimately signed into law by Governor Nikki Haley despite calls for a veto. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, South Carolina Department of Motor Vehicle statistics indicate that as many as 180,000 voters could be disenfranchised under the law. As of last month, there were no cases of voter fraud in South Carolina.
Perdue ultimately had to choose between legislating against the relatively few and already identifiable cases of fraud or the thousands of voters who could find themselves unable to vote due to technicalities. In this case, Perdue sided with the voters.
“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.”
