Another Asheville senior resident experience­s difficulty obtaining photo ID from NCDMV

Another Asheville resident has had a frustrating experience trying to obtain a photo ID for voting. After a time-consuming trip to the DMV, and wrangling with poll workers at the Buncombe County Board of Elections office, 68-year-old Juliet Burke succeeded in casting an early vote in the primary, but she still lacks a photo ID.

Confusion at polls feared as new voter ID law takes effect

With a primary election less than four months away, North Carolina officials are scrambling to get ready for a controversial state law requiring photo IDs at the polls, even as a lawsuit challenging its constitutionality remains unresolved. Voting rights advocates fear the changes in how the state’s elections are conducted will create confusion among voters […]

Update: NC board of elections finishes holding hearings on how best to enforce voter ID law

Update 6/15: The canary coalition recorded the June 11th Jackson county input meeting. The group has the video of the proceedings publicly available. Today is the final day for public input on the proposed rules for accepting voter identification at polling places.  Submit comments via email to rules@ncsbe.gov Lines are expected to lengthen at the polls […]

That’s real fraud

The plan of Republicans in North Carolina to enact voter-ID laws is pure smokescreen designed to divert our attention from the very real and systematic vote fraud perpetrated by Republicans [“Is Voter ID Worth the Burden,” Feb. 6 Xpress”]. The state's grossly gerrymandered districts — engineered in 2010 by Republicans funded by shadowy state and […]

Voter ID is a cheap shot

A friend of mine who lives near A.C. Reynolds High School passed along a mailer that was sent out by [N.C. House candidate] Nathan Ramsey. This mailer was touting the need for laws that require state residents to show an ID to vote. Shame on Nathan Ramsey for buying into the GOP's voter-suppression efforts that, […]

An opportunit­y wasted

A meeting was held April 30 at the Westwood Baptist Church in West Asheville, ostensibly to address the issue of voter disenfranchisement and the new Voter ID laws being promulgated by the tea party and Republicans. But a funny thing happened on the way to the forum: The disenfranchised population of Buncombe County, those most […]

Republican voters: buyer’s remorse?

They say elections have consequences. I believe they may be right. Republicans have chosen, locally and nationally, a social agenda, including: a women’s right to choose, voter ID, cutting programs that benefit working and middle-class Americans, cutting education that will set N.C. back years and wanting to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. I could […]

Legislator­s in override: Four key vetoes overturned with more votes to come

On Monday and Tuesday, July 25 and 26, North Carolina legislators overrode four closely watched gubernatorial vetoes, including bills that create medical liability reforms, set up sweeping state regulatory reform, establish new rules for Medicaid and health care providers, and make significant changes in the Employment Security Commision. Late Tuesday, in a party line vote of 67-52, the House failed to override the veto of HB 351 (Restore Confidence in Government), which would require photo ID for voting, but the bill remains alive through passage of reconsideration vote. Of the remaining bills considered for potential override, HB 854 (Abortion — Woman’s Right to Know) passed in the House and moves to the Senate.