TO THE EDITOR:
In a recent op-ed, Alex Keith attempted to defend North Carolina’s disastrous “Restore Confidence in Government” Act. His flawed analysis rests on three misconceptions. First, Keith focuses too narrowly on the voter ID segment of the legislation. Nowhere in his column does he mention the elimination of civics lessons for high school students, pre-registration for 16- to 17-year-olds and provisions to extend voting hours on Election Day. Nor does he acknowledge the General Assembly’s decision to slash the early voting period.
Why these omissions? The answer is glaringly obvious: such transparent attempts to limit voter turnout fail to prevent fraud, waste taxpayer dollars and advance a specific partisan agenda.
Next, Keith claims that voter fraud is prevalent enough to justify the considerable burden which the voter ID program imposes on North Carolina voters. He claims that 0.0011 percent of votes in North Carolina in 2008 were fraudulent, though figures from 2012 and 2010 suggest there were even fewer. He goes on to argue that, “Just because a crime is rare doesn’t mean we don’t need protection from it.” Indeed. Just because voter fraud is virtually nonexistent does not mean that current protections should be eliminated.
But the data shows that current efforts are adequate and the costs of additional protections are not justified. What legitimate state function is served by spending as much as $20 million to make it harder for millions of North Carolinians to vote, in the hope that such efforts may reduce already microscopic rates of voter fraud?
Keith glibly inquires, “Does my being Japanese-American prevent me from taking a couple of hours to ensure my vote is secure?” Keith is arguing in bad faith: When you do not have a good argument, it is necessary to mischaracterize the opposing view.
In reality, no one has ever suggested that minorities are incapable of surmounting obstacles to vote. Voting rights advocates have, however, pointed out that the law will make it more expensive and more time-intensive to vote, and these effects will be felt disproportionately by minorities, the elderly, students and women.
And that is the real crux of the matter: This legislation is part and parcel of a cruel, national trend to suppress the vote for the benefit of Republicans. North Carolinians deserve better legislation, and readers of The Daily Tar Heel deserve better analysis.
Peter Vogel ’15
Wilson Parker ’15
Young Democrats
