North Carolina’s General Assembly did its job this week. It passed legislation that is needed and overdue. This November, ballots will contain a proposal to amend the state constitution so that every citizen is required to present a valid photo ID in order to cast votes at a polling place.
Voter ID requirements were upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court a decade ago. If voters approve of the measure, first passed by the House and immediately thereafter by the Senate, North Carolina will become the 34th state requiring voter ID at polls.
Moore County Representative Jamie Boles (NC-52) led the charge to advance the bill to the full House, where it gained momentum.
Next, expect Democrats to dust off their tired arguments that voter ID is a concoction to deter minorities and the elderly from voting. Former Obama-era Attorney General Eric Holder considered voter ID a vile, racist step solely taken to “disenfranchise American citizens of their most precious rights.”
This heated rhetoric might have had teeth a century ago when a drivers’ license was some flimsy paper product, easily distorted, in an age when few held IDs or ever imagined driving a car. But this is 2018. Digital technology can produce slick, fraud-proof ID cards efficiently and cheaply. In fact, Republican state legislators say they will see to it that anyone who needs an ID card will receive one at no cost. Someone willing to make the effort to vote should be inclined to make a similar effort to secure an ID. It has many practical uses beyond the voting booth.
Boles’ challenger to his House seat, Democrat Lowell Simon, wasted no time raising red flags about voter ID. You would think Democrat voters would be offended by the inclination of their candidates to assume they are too lazy, stupid or elderly to figure out how to acquire an ID. But that’s their fallback position every time this issue comes up.
“I would be looking for ways to make it easier for people to vote,” Simon told The Pilot.
This follows the warped logic on the Left that we should be looking for ways to make it easier for families flooding our southern U.S. border to enter the country without documentation. It’s about compassion, don’t you know. Law and order is such a callous pursuit, after all.
Democrat Helen Probst Mills, who is running against Republican incumbent Tom McInnis for the District 25 NC Senate seat, also seems to doubt the intelligence of her supporters. She complained to The Pilot: “We are asking voters to approve a substantial change without providing them with enough information to make an informed decision.”
What additional information shall we provide? It’s strikingly obvious. If you want to exercise the privilege of voting, present an ID and confirm that you are eligible.
Unlike Democrats, Republican leaders are confident that their voters are smart, savvy and pragmatic.