NC Gov. Pat McCrory unfamiliar with Voter ID bill, plans to sign

By Brandon Napier on July 29, 2013

In a media conference on Friday, North Carolina governor Pat McCrory (R) stated he is unfamiliar with the omnibus Voter ID bill, but plans to sign it anyway. The controversial Voter ID bill makes drastic changes to voting in North Carolina, and provisions such as cutting early voting by one week, implementing a strict NC-issued ID requirement for voting, and ending same-day registration has led to it being named the worst voter suppression bill in the nation.

McCrory praised the bill and cited its restoration of faith and the integrity of the election system as the primary reasons for his unwavering support. However, this faith and integrity comes at a cost of suppressing the thousands impacted by the provisions of this bill. When asked how the provisions of this bill will help rid North Carolina of Voter Fraud, McCrory stated he has always been concerned about same-day registration, and NC offers many ways to pre-register. North Carolinians would have to take advantage of the methods McCrory speaks of at least 25 days before a primary or election, should he sign the bill. When you look at the statistics, 613,000 NC citizens, half of them registered democrats, lack photo ID. What is this voter fraud McCrory is speaking of? Perhaps the 121 alleged cases of voter fraud out of the seven million ballots cast in the 2012 State election.

House Bill 589 also eliminates pre-registration programs for 16 and 17 year-olds developed to increase voter turnout among young voters. When asked by an Associated Press reporter about this specific portion of the bill, McCrory responded, “I don’t know enough … I’m sorry, I haven’t seen that part of the bill.” As a bill vehemently protested from many NC citizens and the NAACP, one would hope McCrory reads it in its entirety, but with the first GOP majority NC General Assembly in years – he may see no reason to.

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