It’s too hard! That’s one of the cries from the Left over North Carolina’s new voting law that requires a photo I.D. to vote beginning in 2016. Leftist critics say the law disenfranchises college students. Actually, no, it doesn’t.
Out-of-state college students wishing to vote in North Carolina elections should find it relatively easy to get a state-issued photo identification card that will be necessary to cast a ballot under the new voter ID system.
While an out-of-state driver’s license or ID card issued by the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles will suffice for people who registered to vote within 90 days of their first North Carolina election, they’ll need to obtain a different photo ID card for subsequent elections. “It should be pretty simple,” said Steve Abbott, a spokesman for the N.C. Department of Transportation.
Media reports and opinion pieces have suggested that student voters would face major impediments in 2016 when the ID requirement — included in House Bill 589, an election reform bill Gov. Pat McCrory signed last week — takes effect. Abbott suggests those concerns are overblown.
Abbott said students coming to North Carolina for college could obtain a DMV ID card by providing several specific documents necessary to prove their age, identity, proof of Social Security registration, and proof of residency.
“As soon as they have those in hand, there’s no waiting period,” Abbott said.