My Saturday morning outing in Orange County illustrated a serious problem with priorities in this state. I now know that in North Carolina, you get more scrutiny trying to buy a coffee pot than you do trying to vote for the next leader of the free world. At the Orange County Board of Elections office, I was asked my name and address. When I obliged, a very nice poll worker handed me a ballot and pen, explained a few things about the ballot itself, and sent me off to a table to make decisions that will impact every single day of my life. No muss, no fuss. And, no I.D. required.
Next stop: Linens and Things in Durham, where I chose a new coffee pot and headed to the cash register staffed by an equally nice person who required that I present my drivers license before she would accept my credit card. What’s more, she actually read the license and compared it to my card, then cheerfully said thanks and processed my purchase.
I am stunned at how easy it would be to commit voter fraud in this state, versus how tough it would be to pass off a stolen credit card. Surely we can do better than this. We must.
