What I told federal court about NC’s discriminatory voter ID law | Opinion
On May 6, I was called to testify in federal court in the NAACP lawsuit challenging North Carolina’s new voter photo ID law.
I was called because You Can Vote, the organization I founded and run, knows first-hand the obstacles to voting that North Carolinians face. Over the last 10 years, we’ve trained and mobilized 6,000 nonpartisan volunteers to educate over one million North Carolinians on their right to vote and helped 100,000-plus citizens register to vote.
As we talk to potential voters across the state, we’ve found that yes, people are angry and apathetic, but most of all they are confused by the seemingly endless political infighting and ever-changing rules to vote.
However it may appear, we know that North Carolina’s new voter ID law (SB 824) is discriminatory. It discriminates against those without a state-approved photo ID for no good or valid reason.
How does the law discriminate? It makes it more difficult to vote. Yes, if you don’t have a state-approved ID you can get a free Voter Photo ID at your county’s board of elections office. But you have to already be registered to vote in your county and you have to be able to get there — even if the office is many miles away, or you don’t have a car, or a friend who can drive, or public transportation in your county. And, while your board of elections office may be open during “regular business hours,” you might not be able to leave work or school without penalty.
During the federal trial, the State Board of Elections showed a preview of their education campaign planned for fall 2024, including billboards and digital and print ads. The images on these ads include people holding up a N.C. drivers license with the big bold words “Bring It: Your ID. Your Vote.” To the untrained eye, these ads appear to be friendly reminders. But, based on our experience educating voters, these ads will suppress votes and have a detrimental impact on citizens who lack a state-issued ID.
People already think they cannot register to vote if they don’t have a DMV-issued ID. Every day, we talk to potential voters who motion to their back pocket or purse for a wallet as they say “I can’t get registered today because I haven’t been to the DMV” or “I don’t have my ID with me.”
It isn’t true that voters can’t register without a DMV-issued ID and it isn’t true that voters can’t cast a ballot without an ID, so why say so? These ads will only serve to deter eligible voters from going to the polls.
Voters need helpful messages about how they can vote, and a photo ID is not an eligibility requirement for the right to vote in our state. There is an exception form for those who lack ID and, for those who forget it when they go to the polls, they can come back and show it.
So who are those most likely to find it difficult or impossible to get a photo ID and be deterred by this messaging? Newly eligible 18 year olds, people in low-wage jobs, people who are sick or have disabilities, young people (especially those who move frequently), seniors, low-income people, and most especially, people of color.
2020 proved that North Carolina does not need a voter photo ID law. Despite the turmoil of a hard-fought general election in the midst of a pandemic, the elections came off without a hitch — without voter photo ID. To register and vote, North Carolinians only had to provide proof of residency and sign a statement, at the bottom of every voter registration form, attesting to their eligibility under the penalty of perjury. That sufficed.
North Carolina citizens deserve a government that encourages and supports the habit of voting without unnecessary obstacles. That is why You Can Vote was founded and why our work continues to be in high demand across the state. To help us reach more voters, accurately educate them about their rights, and get them registered to vote become a You Can Vote volunteer at youcanvote.org.
Kate Fellman is founder and executive director of You Can Vote.
