Legislation setting the rules for the recently approved constitutional amendment requiring voters to show photo identification at the polls cleared its first hurdle Tuesday despite extensive protests.
The Senate Elections Committee passed Senate Bill 824 without opposition, and the proposal could reach the Senate floor by Wednesday afternoon.
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Under the proposal, the following IDs would be acceptable at the polls:
- A North Carolina driver's license
- Identification cards for non-drivers issued by the state Division of Motor Vehicles
- U.S. passports
- A new voter ID card, as created by the legislation
- A tribal enrollment card issued by a federally or state-recognized tribe.
- A student ID card from a University of North Carolina school, a community college or a private university
- An employee identification card issued by a state or local government entity, including a charter school
- A driver's license or ID card issued by another state if the voter's registration came within 90 days of the election
All of those types of ID must be valid and either unexpired or expired for less than a year. Officials at university, colleges and local government entities would be required to certify every four years that their processes for printing IDs are secured and that they have verified the age and citizenship status of recipients.
The bill also allows the following forms of ID regardless of whether they carry expiration or issuance dates:
- A military ID issued by the U.S. government
- A veteran's identification card issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
- Any of the allowed IDs, even if they're expired, if the voter is at least 65 years old, as long as the ID was unexpired on his or her 65th birthday.
The array of acceptable IDs for voting included in the bill wider than in a 2013 state law that was thrown out by federal courts two years ago as targeting minority voters.
The bill also allows three exceptions to the ID requirement: a religious objection to have a photo taken, a natural disaster that occurs with 60 days of an election or a reasonable impediment to obtaining an ID.
What constitutes a "reasonable impediment" isn't spelled out in the law, but Sen. Ralph Hise, R-Mitchell, said someone forgetting an ID at home would be considered reasonable. For the 2019 elections, not knowing the new ID requirement also would be accepted as a reasonable impediment.
Anyone meeting those three exceptions would be allowed to vote a provisional ballot after signing an affidavit under penalty of perjury that he or she is the person allowed to vote who appeared at the polling place and stating the reason for not having a photo ID. County elections officials would then decide whether to count each provisional ballot.
If the legislation becomes law, which is expected given the veto-proof majorities Republicans hold in the House and the Senate, the new rules would take effect in next year's municipal elections.
Sen. Terry Van Duyn, D-Buncombe, called that "a pretty aggressive schedule," noting that problems implementing voter ID occurred under the 2013 law even though elections officials had three years to educate voters about it.
"It was a tough job to do [then], and now we're going to do it instantaneously?" an incredulous Van Duyn asked.
Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, a sponsor of the bill, said voter ID is now part of the state constitution, and lawmakers cannot just ignore the constitution and wait until the 2020 elections or later to enforce the requirement.
Scores of protesters who rallied outside the Legislative Building on Tuesday morning and later sat in the galleries during the brief House and Senate sessions with black tape over their mouths said GOP lawmakers have repeatedly ignored the constitution in recent years.
"They cheated. Let's get that clear, they cheated. The majority in this legislature are not there because a majority of people voted for them," said Rev. William Barber, former state NAACP president, referring to legislative districts that have been declared unconstitutionally gerrymandered on both racial and partisan grounds.
Republicans lost their veto-proof majorities in the election three weeks ago, but the lame-duck session allows them to pass the voter ID rules before the new General Assembly takes office in January. Protestors said the election showed voters don't want current lawmakers to take up any legislation beyond immediate needs like hurricane relief.
"Instead of ramming through a partisan law on your way out of office, hold hearings and town halls across this state. Find out what the people want to see in the [voter ID] law," said Melissa Price Kromm, director of North Carolina Voters for Clean Elections.
"Anything that comes out of this session that doesn't help flood victims is wrong," Barber said.
But Republicans say their terms of office run through the end of the year, so they still have authority to make law, even though power will shift in January.
"Voter ID is in the North Carolina Constitution because the people of this state support it overwhelmingly, and Republicans will follow through on that mandate," Pat Ryan, a spokesman for Senate President Pro Tem Phil Berger said in a statement. "It’s a great irony that the liberal activist organization that planned today’s protest is asking a judge to invalidate the votes for the amendment while at the same time accusing us of voter suppression."