NCFRW Presents Voter ID Petitions; Supports Voter ID Legislation
Members of the North Carolina Federation of Republican Women (NCFRW) visited the General Assembly on February 1, 2011 to present party leaders with signatures from thousands of citizens across the state that support Voter ID legislation.
“Republican women across the state have been working to raise awareness about the importance of this issue. Our petition urges the legislature to support legislation that will require voters of North Carolina to provide proof of eligibility before being allowed to cast a ballot in any election. We pledge our support and will now concentrate our efforts to help with the passage of the bill,” said Dena Barnes, NCFRW President.
Speaker Pro Tempore Dale Folwell (R-Forsyth) and House Majority Leader Rep. Paul Stam (R-Wake) welcomed NCFRW and local club members to the petition presentation. Several Republican Representatives were attendance to express their appreciation and promised that this legislation will protect the integrity and reliability of the electoral process and prevent voter irregularities.
There is discussion that the bill will be modeled after a law in Indiana, which the US Supreme Court has ruled is constitutional.
Those present included Representatives George Cleveland, Larry Brown, Ruth Samuelson, Marilyn Avlia, John Faircloth, Mike Hager, Jonathan Jordan, Phil Shepard, Fred Steen II, Dan Ingle, William Current, Sr. and Bill McGee.
Presenting the petitions on behalf of the NCFRW included NCFRW State President Dena Barnes, Grassroots Activism Chair Joyce Krawiec and Immediate Past President Valerie White.
Twenty-seven states now have broader voter identification requirements than what federal HAVA (Help America Vote Act) mandates. In these states, all voters are asked to show identification prior to voting. In no state is a voter turned away from the polls-all states have some type of recourse for voters, including casting provisional ballots.
“Surely, if we must provide ID to enter some federal buildings, board an airplane, get a hunting license, or even cash a check, we can ask our citizens to prove that they are qualified voters,” said Joyce Kraweic, Grassroots Activisim Chair.
See also: Voter ID Pledge
The Voter ID Petition
Meanwhile, NC liberals on Twitter and blogs are whinning away that this legislation is “too expensive” and would keep the poor from voting. See WRAL for more information. They argue that there is no fraud and that conservatives cannot prove that there is. Anyone ever heard of ACORN?
EDITOR’S NOTE: Your blogger is a member of the NCFRW and proudly supports Voter ID legislation.
Posted in 
Max,
Thanks for your comments. I’m told by reporter Laura Leslie, that the $20 million number came from the DMV. I don’t think any figures out of the DMV hold water and here’s why. When I worked at DOT, the DMV was known as the “dumping ground” in state government. It was also known as state govt’s “armpit”. Whatever you want to call it, the best and the brightest were not sent there.
That’s where you send the Governor’s political friends who “deserved” a state job, yet weren’t really worthy to work anywhere else in Raleigh. If they fouled up badly, they were tossed over to DMV. Why do you think everyone hates the DMV? Because flunkies like Alexander Killian and others were sent over there.
I don’t think there are one million people in this state that are registered to vote w/o voter id. And, if it costs the state $20 bucks to make an id that is handed out free, something is very, very wrong.
Instead of banging on we Voter ID people, we should start at the source.
Thanks for writing to Katy’s Conservative Corner. We appreciate your comments.
You support a bill that would cost $20 million while NC faces a $3 billion budget shortfall?
http://www.southernstudies.org/2011/02/report-voter-id-law-unaffordable-for-north-carolina.html
Yes, $20 million is money well spent to protect voting rights. I think we can find $20 million in a profligate State budget that has far outpaced inflation and population growth in the past three decades. Maybe we can cut some of the 35,000 State workers we’ve added in the past ten years, whose salaries are 12% higher on average than private sector workers. Of course, a reduction in voter fraud should result in a reduction of elected Democrats, which will save the taxpayers money and pay for itself.