Lawmakers Hear Pros and Cons of Voter ID Proposal | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Barry Smith, who is an associate editor to the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

NAACP's Barber, Indiana's Bonnet offer contrasting visions of ID's impact

    RALEIGH     Members of the House Elections Committee Wednesday received two starkly different versions of the effects of having a voter ID law.

    One came from the Rev. William Barber, president of the N.C. NAACP.

    The other came from Jerry Bonnet, chief legal counsel for the Indiana Elections Division.

    Barber said the proposed voter ID bill, which requires a photo ID to vote, would amount to a poll tax and result in voter suppression. Bonnet said that what he called the "strictest in the nation" voter ID law did not result in massive voter suppression.

    The presentations came as legislators consider House Bill 589, a long-anticipated measure that would require voters to produce a photo ID at the polls. The bill was introduced last week in the House. It would provide a state ID free to people who don't have one and say obtaining one would become a financial hardship.

    Barber quoted from the late Rev. J.W. Hood, a founder of Livingstone College, by referring to Scripture: "Woe unto those who rob the poor of their rights."

    Barber declared that a voter ID requirement amounted to a poll tax and was "eerily reminiscent of Old South policies."

    "Those of you pushing this bill are scared of true democracy," Barber said.

    Bonnet said that in Indiana, prognosticators predicted "doom and gloom," with people not having acceptable photo IDs and not being able to vote.

    "That isn't what happened," Bonnet said.

    Bonnet said that his he had a state helicopter and a state airplane on standby to go anywhere in Indiana in 2006, during the first statewide election after the state's adoption of a voter ID law, to check on voting sites to find out if there were going to be large numbers of people being turned away at the polls.

    "It didn't happen," Bonnet said.

    Bonnet said, "Indiana had a concern about a citizen's right to confidence in the outcome of elections."

    Republicans have pushed for a photo ID requirement for years, often offering such requirements as amendments to election law bills when they were in the minority in the General Assembly.

    Two years ago, after winning majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly, a GOP-backed voter ID passed and was sent to then-Gov. Bev Perdue, who vetoed the bill. They were unable to override the veto.

    This year, with Republican Gov. Pat McCrory in the Executive Mansion, GOP lawmakers believe their chances of finally getting such a bill enacted into law are better. McCrory has said that he supports voter ID, but will leave the details up to the General Assembly.

    Republicans also are citing polls showing support for a voter ID requirement. Some cite a 2005 report by the federal Commission on Election Reform, co-chaired by former Democratic President Jimmy Carter and former GOP Secretary of State James Baker.

    That report called voter identification one of "five pillars" that would build confidence in the integrity of federal elections.