Today, North Carolinians will be able to weigh in on the much anticipated voter ID bill in the House Elections Committee. Since the 2010 midterm election, state Republicans have publicly expressed their intentions of passing voter ID in the state. Voting rights groups–including student groups–have already pushed back.
“It puts up new barriers for young people,” said Bob Hall, executive director for nonpartisan voting rights group, Democracy N.C. to the University of North Carolina publication, the Daily Tar Heel. “It’s like a witch hunt after some mysterious problem that doesn’t really exist.”
Hall said the “bill will also affect minorities, elderly voters who do not drive and even women who have changed their last names.”
Like many proposals that have been introduced in at least 30 states this session, the North Carolina bill would require all voters to present current, government-issued photo ID at the polling place on Election Day. The bill also includes “free ID” for certain voters, though advocates estimate that the entire proposal could cost the budget-strapped state at least $20 million.
According to a WFMY News report, 45 people are signed up to speak at the hearing today at 2 p.m. The committee chairman expects to vote on the bill by the end of the day.