For A Reasoned Discussion, Let’s Look At The Data

Writing for the Wall Street Journal, Robert Popper, a senior attorney for Judicial Watch who also served as the deputy chief of the voting section of the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice a few years ago, notes the data about the impact of requiring a photo I.D. to vote.

In elections held after new voter-ID laws were enacted in Georgia and Tennessee, for instance, minority turnout either was stable or increased. In Tennessee, the turnout among Hispanics of voting age rose to 34.7% in 2012 from 19.2% in 2008, according to surveys by the U.S. Census Bureau, even though a strict new photo ID law was in effect in 2012. Turnout among blacks of voting age declined slightly, to 57.4% in 2012 from 58.1% in 2008, but this was within the Census survey’s margin of error. In both years, black turnout was around 4% higher than the comparable white turnout.

What’s more, the election reform passed by the General Assembly puts North Carolina in the mainstream of election law when compared with other states — not on the fringe as Democrats and their allies continually allege.

* Voter ID: required. Thirty-three states require voters to present identification at the polls. North Carolina is the 34th and joins a national trend of requiring a photo ID. Two-thirds of North Carolinians asked in several polls favor a government-issued photo ID to vote. 

• Straight-ticket voting: no longer allowed. Fourteen states allow straight-party voting. North Carolina joins the 36 states that do not. 

• Early voting: fewer days but the same number of hours. Fifteen states allow neither early voting nor no-excuse absentee voting. Thirty-two states have early voting periods ranging from four days to 45 days prior to election day, with an average of 19 days. North Carolina allows 10 days but requires the same number of hours of early voting that were available in 2012 and 2010, when the early voting period was 17 days. 

• Same-day registration: no longer allowed during early voting. Only Ohio and North Carolina allowed same-day registration during early voting. Ten states and the District of Columbia allow same-day registration on election day. North Carolina no longer does. 

• Pre-registration: no longer allowed for 16- and 17-year-olds. Five states allow 16- and 
17-year-olds to register before they turn 18. Forty-five states do not, now including North Carolina. 

• Campaign contributions: limited. Fourteen states allow unlimited individual contributions to candidates. North Carolina limits individual contributions to $5,000, with periodic increases tied to the Consumer Price Index. 

• Paper ballots: required in all N.C. counties. All but five states require paper ballots or some type of paper trail voters can verify at the polls. North Carolina becomes the 18th state using only paper ballots statewide. Sixty-seven North Carolina counties used paper ballots in 2012. H.B. 589 brings consistency across all counties. 

• Taxpayer-funded campaigns: repealed. Only 13 states offer public funds to political candidates. North Carolina joins the 37 states that do not. 

• Provisional out-of-precinct voting: no longer allowed. Thirty-one states and D.C. require voters to cast provisional ballots in the precinct where they live (according to 2008 data, the most recent I could find). Now, North Carolina does, too. 

• Instant runoff elections: eliminated. North Carolina was the only state using the confusing instant runoff process in judicial races. Three states use instant runoffs for ballots cast by overseas voters. H.B. 589 eliminates them in North Carolina.