Voting legislation undermines democratic integrity

The issue: A GOP bill would require identification to vote in N.C. While some see it as an assault on voting rights, others hail it as an important step toward combating voter fraud.

Regardless of the motivation behind the Republican endorsed voting legislation, it simply cannot withstand a cost-benefit analysis.

Republicans maintain that the proposed voting legislation is meant to reduce voter fraud, but its effects are widespread and in many cases harmful. Requiring a government issued voter identification would severely affect low-income, minority and elderly voters, and restricting early voting could lower student turnout next November.

The fact that the new legislation seems to target minorities, low-income voters and students has caused a small outcry. These demographics were key players in President Obama’s 2008 campaign, and legislation that appears to target them should not be taken lightly, but as an obstruction to democracy.

Of course, circumstantial evidence is not proof. There is no surefire way to prove the potential elimination of some of Obama’s supporters in the upcoming election motivated N.C. legislators.

But while the true intent can not be fully understood, the legislation will effectively disenfranchise a significant portion of the N.C. population, many of them Democratic voters.

N.C.’s Fiscal Research Division reported that the voter ID requirement would affect 885,537 registered voters. Given the number of registered voters in the 2008 election reported by the N.C. State Board of Elections, more than 14 percent of registered voters would be affected.

The legislature’s proposed bill will make it more difficult for 14 percent of its constituency to vote. Another piece of legislation now in committee would shorten the early voting period, decreasing the amount of time voters have to cast their ballot, discouraging another demographic.

In recent years, North Carolina’s voter statistics have been on the rise. In 2008, the N.C. State Board of Elections reported a 70 percent turnout, a full six percent above the national average as well as N.C.’s 2004 turnout. With numbers climbing, it is wrong to discourage the same voters who turned out in 2008 from exercising their constitutional right in 2012.

N.C. Republican legislators claim it is worth it, citing a need to eliminate voter fraud. But their claims aren’t substantiated in fact. Based on two recent studies, voter fraud is actually rare. According to a study published by Brennan Center for Justice, it is “more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than that he will impersonate another voter at the polls.” Voter fraud exists, but a fraction of a percent is nowhere near enough to justify the 14 percent of N.C. voters who will be caught in the crossfire.

Given the comparison between voter fraud statistics and the numbers that will be adversely affected by new legislation, a conclusion seems glaringly obvious. If the GOP intends to use new voting regulations to reduce Obama’s support in N.C., the legislation will be both effective and borderline unconstitutional, but if the goal is to improve the voting process, the proposed legislation will do more harm than good.