#ncga: Affa-David Lewis says ‘ALL is well’ with voter ID
You can tell when Raleigh starts feeling the heat on something. They tend to dispatch underlings bearing emails
to calm the peons outside the beltline. And we happen to have a great example of that here today. State Rep. David Lewis — a top henchman to speaker Tim Moore — has taken to email to explain to all of us why affadavits are a good thing:
[…]
Beginning in 2016 an individual who wishes to cast their ballot, on election day, must present, a NC Department of Motor Vehicles Photo ID, a US Passport, US Military ID, US Veteran’s Administration Card or Tribal ID Card (all with pictures). This is the current law as it stands.
This is a good system that ensures voters are who they claim to be.
However, there is no such thing as a perfect system.
As one who has fought to pass voter ID laws for over a decade, I have always maintained that Republicans want all citizens to be able to exercise their full Constitutional rights. We want everyone to have equal and open access to an elections system that operates as openly and fairly as possible.
I have said many times that we want everyone who is eligible to vote, to vote one time, and that those votes, cumulatively will determine who wins and who loses elections.
There has been considerable angst, yesterday and today, over claims we have weakened our voter ID laws.
I reject that claim.
Let me start with an example of the kind of inevitable situation that will almost certainly arise in 2016 and in every election thereafter.
Let’s say loyal voter David Lewis takes his family to lunch at the Western Steer in Dunn on Sunday before the Tuesday, November 8, 2016 General Election. Somehow between listening to his kids argue over how many trips to the dessert bar they can make and cleaning up the unavoidable spilled drink or two, he loses his wallet.
David’s wallet contains his North Carolina Driver’s License.
David does not have a US Passport or any other federally issued ID.
Because the only ID David has is lost, he would not be able to vote on Tuesday as he’s done every year since turning 18.
It is reasonable that some provision be made so that David can exercise his right to vote.
Seriously? It takes next to no time to replace a lost or stolen driver license. Next?
Under that adjustment to the voter ID statute passed Thursday, David would be able to go to the polling site and do the following:
- Sign, under penalty of perjury, an affidavit that states his full name, correct home address, last four of his Social Security number AND his birthday.
- He would then be able to mark his selections ON A PROVISIONAL BALLOT.
- The PROVISIONAL BALLOT would be sealed in an envelope with the signed affidavit and sent to the County Board of Elections.
- The County Board would review that everything David had written on the affidavit was correct and apply largely the same verification procedures used when reviewing an Absentee Ballot.
- Only after this verification process had taken place, would David’s ballot be counted.
- Also, another citizen could CHALLENGE David’s ballot until the Election Canvas.
Let me give you another example.
Okay. Let’s say I get stopped by a cop while driving down the road. My license expired last week. Or better yet — I don’t have my license. Does the officer let me keep going down the road? Or does he give me a citation that requires a court visit, and force me to call someone to drive me away? Or does he take me in for booking? Driving is not mentioned in The Constitution, but voting IS. Why are we so much more gung-ho about guarding the driving privilege?
[…] Let’s say David’s birthday happens to fall on the Saturday before the Tuesday election. His ID would have been “current” during the early voting time. However, it’s only after he shows up at the polls on Tuesday that he learns his license has expired. Under current law, David would not get to vote.
Imagine. He has a NCDL that has expired a few days before. He’s been busy and not really thinking about it. He would not be able to vote.
I don’t know about Affa-David’s license, but mine has an expiration date on it. Like the milk at Food Lion. And, again, a license can be renewed or replaced typically within an hour or two’s time.
We’ve already got a boatload of early voting time. If you are unaware of your license’s expiration date, and wait until the very last minute to vote — there is only so much hand-holding we as a society should have to do for you. Perhaps you are not responsible enough to be voting. 
Is it not reasonable that the right to vote is more important than simply forgetting to renew his license?
Should safeguarding our sacred voting rights actually be trumped by convenience?
And, let me share with you another example. Despite the two years of roll out and education of voters on ID requirements in 2016, all the outreach and help offered to get an ID to those that need one, while even bearing the cost to provide it free, it is possible a registered voter will fall through the cracks and simply not have one.
* It’s possible for a really unfunny former SNL cast member to get elected to the US Senate.*
WHO goes through life with absolutely NO method for proving absolutely who they are?
Turning away a valid voter at the poll is unjust. Allowing voters to game the system is unjust. We’ve tried to strike a balance – improve the real and perceived integrity of the system while NOT stopping valid, registered voters from voting.
This reasonable impediment accommodation strikes the right balance.
Before I got old and grey, a bartender actually refused to serve me a drink — because I forgot my ID. The law says I can buy an adult beverage if I am over 21 years of age. I had no way of proving that I was — beyond a reasonable doubt. Are we really taking the enforcement of our ABC laws more seriously than protecting the integrity of our elections?
Short recap:
It is important to just please remember these quick points:
Because NC has a very high standard of what photo IDs we will accept (NCDMV Issued or Federal passport, military photo id) and we do not accept some forms of ID accepted in other states such as college IDs, we provided a failsafe – just in case – someone gets to the Poll and legitimately does not have their ID.
The State Board, DMV, political parties, and other groups are working hard to make sure North Carolinas get their required ID. But, just in case, an individual can present himself/herself at the polling site, provide his/her name AND address AND last four of his/her social AND birthdate AND sign under penalty of perjury that they are who they say they are. The individual would be allowed to complete a provisional ballot. This ballot must then be sent to the County Board of Elections. The County Board of Elections will then verify the ballot using the same system it uses to handle absentee ballots.
I would argue that this failsafe process creates the most foolproof way to prevent voter fraud because individuals must show up to a polling place and claim to be who they say they are, provide the correct identifying information and STILL have the County BoE verify it all BEFORE the provisional ballot can be counted.
And, the State Board will, after the election, follow up with those people and help them get an ID if needed.
Please know South Carolina also has a reasonable impediment statute and has had it the entire time it has had photo voter ID. In 2014, 1.1 million South Carolinians voted, and only 119 used this procedure. That is 1 out of every 10,000 votes cast.
I’ll be happy to answer questions.
The following is a piece written by the John Locke foundation and below is a release sent out by Speaker Moore’s Office.
I appreciate your time and wish you a great weekend.
David
Ah, a defense of this by the John Locke Foundation. The same group that has issued an internal directive that there will be NO criticism of General Assembly leadership while the GOP is in charge?
If this move was so legit — why was it done at the last minute, behind closed doors, with no real debate?
Methinks this is kind of like that vote on driver licenses for illegals — a deal / move to encourage Democrats and RINOs to vote for leadership’s odious budget.
While Lewis has shown over time to be a great supporter of liberal policies now we have reports of a female Conservative Republican challenger in the up coming election 2016.
First off, I urge everyone to read the bill. ncleg.net. H836. Note: one of the changes in the bill allows a voter to use an ID that’s been expired less than 4 years. They didn’t stop there, though. They had to add this supposed ‘reasonable accomodation’ bunk. Really look at it from this perspective: HOW will officials gather evidence after the vote is cast to either cast doubt on the identity or to find out who cast the fraudulent provisional ballot in order to prosecute them?
It’s UNENFORCEABLE.
There’s nothing about taking a picture at the pollsite (or a thumbprint, or an artist sketch, etc.). As long as the person voting has memorized the voters personal info, how do we verify after the fact that this person is who they say they are? How do you identify the perjurer after the fact if they gave someone else’s information and not their own? There’s no photo, no video… unless someone AT THE TIME recognized them (in which case they presumably wouldn’t be allowed to cast the fraudulent vote in the first place) I don’t see how prosecution happens.
The notary/witness ‘safeguard’ is worthless, as is the statement on the form about a “false statement lead to arrest” (which is about as effective, if someone is determined to break the law, as a ‘gun free zone’ sign). Elections officials see hundreds of people on election day. The idea that they’d remember a face well enough days or weeks after the fact to say that the person wasn’t who was casting the ballot is crazy. At a minimum, it’s reasonable doubt, ERGO: statements, penalties, etc. all mean the same thing — it’s just not enforceable. All the notary or witnesses are saying is that a person appeared and swore that they were that person… they certainly can’t say they saw photo ID, because the person doesn’t have one, right?
For crying out loud, the statute will read that the vote “shall” be counted unless the Board has reason why it should not be. It puts the burden back on the board to show the person isn’t who they said they were. HOW are they supposed to do that without a photo ID? The person doesn’t even have to bring the secondary identification that day. They have until noon the day before canvass to bring it in. SMH.
I’m sympathetic to the lost ID story, but there are myriad examples of things that ‘could’ happen to prevent voting on election day to otherwise eligible voters, e.g. sudden illness, work emergency, child issues, sudden transportation problems, etc. That possibility is not the fault of the system. The system WAS fair. Again: think of all the things that require photo ID in daily life, and have no affidavit exception… are they unfair? More to the point: the system STILL wasn’t stringent enough, as the verification of actual citizenship is still woefully lacking. The system needed to be further strengthened, not have a gaping loophole installed to cover for fraud and incompetence at DMV.
Mr. Lewis and the other members of the GOPe need to remember that information doesn’t just flow down the chain. If they had filed this like a regular bill instead of adding it in conference, their base’s collective experience and wisdom can point out these concerns ahead of time.
With respect to the female conservative challenger, this is Harnett County we’re talking about….I hope she’s not a Renee Ellmers clone.
On another note, another unintended side effect of this piece of garbage legislation is that it takes a long damn time to process individual Provisional ballots at a given polling station, and radical activists will use this to bog down the process at polling stations in certain targeted races, thereby driving away legitimate (and conservative) voters impatiently waiting in long lines. It’s a kind of denial-of-service attack and we saw it play out in targeted locations in the 2014 Election.
Affa-David Lewis has always been a worthless liberal on many issues, and I am glad to see he will get a primary challenger.
The one who concerns me in all of this is Phil Berger, who is usually the conservative in the room, and who fought Tillis hard to get rid of just this sort of nonsense from the original Tillis Voter ID bill. Why did he suddenly flake out? Has he gone soft, or is there more to it?
The rumblings about Tata / DOT problems would be one explanation. I hope Berger is not trying to save Tata’s worthless ass, because if all this is because of Tata not doing his job, then Republicans all across the state need to be standing up and shouting at the top of their voices that Tata needs to be fired.
I wonder if someone has convinced Berger that with a DOT problem, this watered down system is better than no Voter ID. If so, I wonder if one of the consultants from hell that NC is afflicted with is responsible. The flaw in that logic is that once this watered down nonsense is used once, all the libs will be crowing that ”it worked” and it should be kept. Better to delay the start of Voter ID for one more cycle than bastardize it like this.
Party activists need some real answers and the bullshit they are getting from Affa-David is NOT it. If Tata has screwed up, that needs to be out in the open, not hidden.
Somebody needs some tar, some feathers, and a rail from this disaster, and party activists needs to know who that somebody is.
I just had my license renewed one day before it expired. 9 business days later I got the new ID. DMV told me it would come within 15 days max. So they beat the odds with me, but there is no way your getting it in two days via the Lewis example. I suppose the moral of the story is get a passport, and don’t dismiss arguments out of hand just because you got a burr under your saddle with leadership.
Done, done, done with the GOP. Good luck Obama enablers in 2016.
Damn right Obama enablers.
Two points:
1) D(umb) O(ld) T(ata) (add that to the DOT acronym pile) has been screwing things up since Henry Ford invented mass production of the automobile. Raise your hand if it SHOCKS you that DOT some how managed to deprive the Chief Justice’s daughter of her right to vote in 2014.
2) Much as the Jones St crew dislikes the Mayor of Blount St, they would rather deal with him than Coop. Got to wonder if they did some poking around under the hood and said, “Lewis, Rucho we can’t fix this one or let anybody else see it. Send this to the junkyard today, have it crushed and sold to China for scrap metal before someone gets down here and really investigates it.” If Obama’s Civil Rights goons got down here and found out Tata’s DOT had failed to follow the voter ID law and deprived a bunch of citizens of the right to vote in the 2014 election the Governor would pay a steep steep political price.
This sounds a lot like liberal bull and spin. Affa-David is digging deep for some justification and it doesn’t fly.
Well, I have already let my NCGA representatives know I will be voting democrap for the next election. Why bother sending a RINO up to Raleigh when it is such a crapshoot whether they are going to vote the way you want. At least if there is a democrap up there I can be assured I will hate the way he/she votes for the progressives every time.
…
I also heard that this vote was to fend off some aspect of the lawsuit that is going on. Evidently the Governor did not send a memo out to give people a free ID for some reason. It seems to me it would be a lot better for them to send out an email to all DMV employees to give the free ID’s rather than change the law.
It is not McCrory himself who failed to do his job. It is one of his cabinet appointees, Tony Tata, the DOT Secretary. Tata’s misfeasance, malfeasance, or nonfeasance is just inexcusable. McCrory needs to sack Tata over this, or party activists need to wash their hands of McCrory. Heck, Tata is not even a Republican. The whole time he has been in NC, since he moved down from DC, he has been registered as an Unaffiliated. What the heck is he doing as a cabinet secretary in a GOP administration? Maybe that is part of why we have this problem.
To make matters even crazier, Tata has made noises about switching to Republican and carpetbagging down to the 3rd district and challenging one of the two NC Congressmen we can depend on to support GOP principles, Walter Jones.
After the big assist Tata has given the Democrats on gutting Voter ID, no thinking Republican would vote for him for dogcatcher.
Well, McCrory is Tata’s boss. I am sure he had heard rumblings and could have lit a fire under Tata’s butt. A good CEO would know if one of the key pieces of legislation for his party was being correctly implemented.
….
PS, I also believe it is likely the fault of the gov for not getting rid of a lot of the democrap administrators at the DMV as well. I would not put it past the radical progressive complex to have told their buddies to charge for ID’s so that the law would have a chance to be struck down.
The governor’s fault goes back to the start of the administration on staffing policies when he took the governor’s office largely out of the loop which was really dumb.
Governors Martin and Holshouser had robust personnel offices within the governor’s office which actively rode herd on staffing in all the departments and was actively engaged in placing politically reliable people in all important positions. Martin had 12-14 people working on this in the governor’s office.
McCrory appointed non-Republicans such as Tony Tata to half of the cabinet positions and then gave them free rein to hire who they wanted. The governor’s office does not even have a personnel office at all, only one guy who does boards and commissions who can send suggestions to departments, when he hears of vacancies, which they departments do not have to follow.
McCrory’s staffing procedures were very seriously flawed from the very beginning, and this debacle is one result.
…and Tillis is nowhere in sight?
As Mister Rogers used to say:
“Can ya guess why former Atty. General Eric Holder has sued every state that has passed an effective Voter I.D. Law?”
“Can ya guess why Obama is allowing thousands of illegal aliens to flood across the southern border/”
“Can ya guess why Democrats and RINOS are doing everything they can to water down Voter I.D. Laws that do pass?”
If you answered: “Viva Partido Democrata”, you get a lollipop, little Johnnie!