Tuesday, August 13, 2013

Somewhere In Between

Yesterday, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory made a You Tube video after signing legislation, which included what he called Voter ID.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykw2zre6yrQ
(Comments are disabled for this video)

According to McCrory, voter ID makes sense because you, "need photo ID to board an airplane, cash a check, or even apply for most government benefits." Then he talked about how there was recent bi-partisan action to require photo ID to buy Sudafed.

You can board an airplane, cash a check, apply for government benefits, and even get Sudafed without a photo ID. There are procedures in place for people without photo ID at the airport. According to the NC DHHS, there are many documents, including a school identification card, that can be used to prove identity when applying for benefits. You can get someone to help you cash a check and an elderly person who needs Sudafed can get it from a caregiver if they don't have photo ID. Nobody else can vote for you.

The Governor didn't talk in the video about any instances of voter fraud and how this legislation is going to help that in his opinion.

In a statement to the Durham Herald-Sun, McCrory said, "The need for photo-ID has been questioned by those who say voter fraud is not a problem in North Carolina. However, without the higher level of identification a photograph provides, is it possible to know? Even if the instances of misidentified people casting votes are low, that shouldn’t prevent us from putting this non-burdensome safeguard in place. Just because you haven’t been robbed doesn’t mean you shouldn’t lock your doors at night or when you’re away from home."
http://www.heraldsun.com/opinion/x135062576/Common-sense-reforms-strengthens-the-integrity-of-state-s-elections

Now back to the video. It gets interesting as McCrory wants to "be direct." He begins to talk about how many of those from the "extreme left" who have been critical of this legislation are using "scare tactics." Check this out:
"They're more interested in divisive politics than ensure that no one's vote is disenfranchised by fraudulent ballot."


North Carolina citizens have brought up many real concerns about this legislation, including me.

Also in the Herald-Sun, McCrory made the following statement:
"Pre-registration of people too young to vote is another practice that will end."

This is in a paragraph that talks about registration integrity. I don't appreciate the integrity of my concerns being pawned off as "divisive politics"when the legislation that made it possible for teens to pre-register to vote was passed with overwhelming bipartisan support. I don't consider it to be "scare tactics" when I bring up that pre-registration is possible in states like Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Rhode Island and Washington DC at 16 and that Alaska, California, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Nevada, Oregon, and Wyoming allow pre-registration at 17.

I know people I'd consider as extreme left and people I'd consider as extreme right. Most people I know are somewhere in between.



Once again, I feel let down by the responses of my leadership. First I get cake, now this. Someday this in-between will be old enough to vote and I'm not voting for anything on the menu from the left or the right that tastes like this.

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