North Carolina lawmakers agree to pitch ID mandate to voters

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s Republican lawmakers are asking the public for a fresh mandate to block voting by people without certain kinds of photo identification, two years after their earlier attempt to make that a state law got thrown out by federal judges.

With a Senate vote on Friday’s last day of session, the GOP-controlled legislature finalized a proposed constitutional amendment that would require photo IDs to vote in person. The House voted earlier this week to submit the referendum to voters in November. It isn’t subject to the veto stamp of Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, a strong voter ID opponent.

A federal appeals court struck down several state voting restrictions approved by the legislature in 2013, which included a photo ID requirement, saying the provisions targeted “African Americans with almost surgical precision” and were enacted with “racially discriminatory intent.”

Republicans still chafe under those rulings, and argue the ID rule aims to bolster the public’s confidence in elections. Although data show voter impersonation charges and convictions are minimal or almost nonexistent, Republicans cite anecdotes from constituents who say they have seen fraud and are worried that someone could vote in their place with ease under current law.

“This bill is all designed about voter integrity,” House Speaker Tim Moore of Cleveland County, a chief sponsor of the voter ID amendment.

While more than 30 states require some form of identification to vote, only Mississippi and Missouri have constitutional provisions addressing photo ID. Arkansas will have a similar proposed constitutional amendment on ballots this fall.

The language of North Carolina’s referendum doesn’t provide many details. The amendment says lawmakers could pass exceptions for people who lack IDs. Legislators would have to approve a law implementing the amendment if a majority of voters back it.

Those uncertainties and recent history worry Democratic legislators and their allies. They accuse Republicans of again trying to discourage voting by black residents and other groups, who overwhelmingly side with Democrats.

Democratic Sen. Gladys Robinson of Guilford County, who is black, warned Republicans during Senate debate this week, “This voter ID bill says ‘suppress the right to vote,’ and you should not want to be remembered that way.”