Letter: Voter discrimination — let’s not do it again

Graphic by Lori Deaton

Voter fraud was never a worry for the N.C. Republican Party until blacks started voting in large numbers and Barack Obama won the state in 2008. The GOP stoked fears about voter fraud, but their concern was never actually about fraud; it was about trying to deter certain groups of people — in this case, black people — from voting. Look at the evidence.

In 2013, the N.C. General Assembly passed an omnibus voter ID bill (ultimately overruled) that required a state-approved photo ID for voting. The bill also eliminated or curtailed certain voting practices like early voting.

As the bill was challenged in court, it became clear that what the Republican legislators really wanted was to knock down the black vote. Here is what the court found.

During pretrial discovery, the civil rights parties arguing against the bill found emails and other documents by legislators requesting voter data, broken down by race, from the Department of Motor Vehicles and state Board of Elections.

The evidence shows that the legislators then wrote a bill that eliminated or curtailed voting practices predominantly used by blacks and required IDs that black voters were less likely to have than white voters. The legislature didn’t require IDs at all for mail-in absentee ballots, used predominantly by white voters, even though they are susceptible to voter fraud.

The decision on the ruling is summarized in excerpts from a Charlotte Observer editorial, July 30, 2016, “4th Circuit Ruling Exposes the Real N.C. Voting Fraud” [avl.mx/53i]:

“On Friday, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down our state’s election law with a blistering ruling that laid bare the ‘discriminatory intent’ of our lawmakers. That’s right. A three-judge panel said that N.C. Republicans intended to discriminate against black citizens.

“The judges then described, with evidence, exactly how lawmakers did it:

“Before enacting the 2013 law, lawmakers requested data on the use, by race, of several voting practices, according to the ruling. Lawmakers learned, for example, that blacks disproportionately lacked the most common kind of photo ID, those issued by the Department of Motor Vehicles, but did have other kinds of photo IDs.

“With that info, lawmakers proceeded to change an existing N.C. voting bill so that it excluded many forms of ID blacks did possess, while making acceptable the kinds of ID whites possessed most.

“Lawmakers also found in the research that blacks used early voting at greater rates than whites, and that in particular, blacks disproportionately used the first seven days of early voting. After getting this info, the General Assembly killed the first seven days of early voting.

“And so it went, for same day registration and preregistration and provisional voting.”

That’s what the 4th Circuit Court of Appeals found, and the court overturned the bill because it violated the Voting Rights Act and the 14th Amendment

Now, the Republican NCGA is back. In order to give a gloss of public approval to voter discrimination by Republicans, this time they want a state constitutional amendment to require the photo ID. If the amendment passes, legislators will have to fill in the details. And again, they will likely try to write a bill to deter certain groups of Americans from voting. Look at their record and be prepared. By the way, it won’t be helpful to call Republican legislators racists. Just lay out the facts to the voters. Most voters, even many Republicans, may see that the NCGA was wrong and shouldn’t try to pass this kind of bill again.

— Chris Walters
Hendersonville

Editor’s note: On June 29, the legislature decided to ask voters whether to approve a constitutional amendment requiring photo IDs for in-person voting — though without details about what, exactly, those requirements would be. If voters approve the amendment in November, the General Assembly would fill in those details in a bill to be written later.

 

SHARE

Thanks for reading through to the end…

We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.

We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.

About Letters
We want to hear from you! Send your letters and commentary to letters@mountainx.com

Before you comment

The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.

6 thoughts on “Letter: Voter discrimination — let’s not do it again

  1. boatrocker

    Photo IDs for voting are an empty gesture unless racially restrictive voting laws and gerrymandering laws (some call the Don Yelton Effect) are rescinded.
    Enough with the GOP Poll Tax laws.

    I’m sure any local GOPer would read the article title and reply
    “But it worked so well last time!”.
    Nationally and internationally far righties
    would reply “But it verked so vell last time,
    comrades!”. In Cyrillic.

  2. Enlightened Enigma

    Many are just too young and ignorant to know how the NC democrackkks gerrymandered NC for decades without a peep from anyone…
    Democrackkks dominated and controlled NC for over 150 years until 2010 … duh.

    • boatrocker

      How was life in Asheville in 1860 by the way?
      It was only 76 years old and the only undocumented
      immigrant problem was ahem African slaves and
      they sure as heck couldn’t vote.
      They were only 3/5 of an undocumented immigrant
      according to law, by the way.
      Who knows what slavers did with the other 2/5.

  3. jason

    of course it’ll happen again…. ON purpose…. all be design to keep the republitards relevant and in the running, because there is no up w/out a down…
    both party’s are VERY dependent on each other, there is no 1 w/out the other…. wake up people

  4. Feeltheburn

    You need ID for cashing checks, prescriptions, credit cards, and bank accounts. Why should you need ID’s to vote? No wonder liberals want an open border.

Leave a Reply to Enlightened Enigma ×

To leave a reply you may Login with your Mountain Xpress account, connect socially or enter your name and e-mail. Your e-mail address will not be published. All fields are required.