Votes and Power
August 13, 2013 - by
Let’s be honest: The voter ID law that Governor McCrory signed is about political power, not fraud.
A letter-writer to the N&O got it right where the Governor got it wrong. McCrory said: “Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and we should expect nothing less for the protection of our right to vote.”
Thomas Magnani of Cary briskly summed up the difference. Unlike boarding a plane or taking medicine, he wrote, “voting is…everyone’s constitutional right.”
Normally, conservatives oppose government limiting Americans’ constitutional rights, like owning a gun. But when it comes to the right to vote, they can’t enact enough limits.
On Monday, Watauga County Republicans rammed through limits on students’ right to vote at Appalachian State University.
The Watauga Democrat reported: “Amid shouts and boos from an audience of about 60 people, the (county elections) board…eliminated the early voting site on the ASU campus and recombined the Boone precincts into one with 9,340 registered voters and one polling place.”
In other words, students can no longer vote on campus.
Again, this is about power – and Republicans’ willingness to use political power to disenfranchise people who might vote Republicans out of power.
Well, they certainly are making voting harder for some people. But they may make those people work harder in 2014 and 2016.
Votes and Power
August 13, 2013/
Let’s be honest: The voter ID law that Governor McCrory signed is about political power, not fraud.
A letter-writer to the N&O got it right where the Governor got it wrong. McCrory said: “Common practices like boarding an airplane and purchasing Sudafed require photo ID, and we should expect nothing less for the protection of our right to vote.”
Thomas Magnani of Cary briskly summed up the difference. Unlike boarding a plane or taking medicine, he wrote, “voting is…everyone’s constitutional right.”
Normally, conservatives oppose government limiting Americans’ constitutional rights, like owning a gun. But when it comes to the right to vote, they can’t enact enough limits.
On Monday, Watauga County Republicans rammed through limits on students’ right to vote at Appalachian State University.
The Watauga Democrat reported: “Amid shouts and boos from an audience of about 60 people, the (county elections) board…eliminated the early voting site on the ASU campus and recombined the Boone precincts into one with 9,340 registered voters and one polling place.”
In other words, students can no longer vote on campus.
Again, this is about power – and Republicans’ willingness to use political power to disenfranchise people who might vote Republicans out of power.
Well, they certainly are making voting harder for some people. But they may make those people work harder in 2014 and 2016.