N. Carolina restrictions may backfire on GOP

[struggle4progress]

Steffen Schmidt
Aug. 26, 2013

... Most of us don’t appreciate how many people don’t have birth certificates or other documentation required to register to vote. Think of the folks who were hit by superstorm Sandy or Hurricane Katrina, who lost items in fires or while moving, or lack documents for other reasons. In the South, that includes the fact that many folks born in rural areas, especially blacks, were born at home and not in a hospital, and their birth status is difficult to verify.

We also forget how hard it is for the elderly and lower-income folks to make it to polling places or for the elderly and people with disabilities to stand in line for hours waiting to get into crowded polling places ...

I believe that these restrictive actions may potentially backfire and result in the Democrats investing tens of millions to help register voters (while not violating the “paid voter registration drive” provision), help people get ID cards by using volunteers, and work with schools to actually increase registration and turnout.

Anytime you appear to be trying to screw people out of a right that they may have taken for granted in the past, they get mad. In the end, the turnout of those now inconvenienced by the new law may actually go up ...

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20130826/OPINION01/308260057/1097/SPORTS0204/?odyssey=nav|head

[SheilaT]

1. And since each state has its own way of

giving out birth certificates, it's even more complicated.

Recently I needed a new birth certificate. I was born in New York State, and there's an on-line service that's a little pricy but fortunately I could afford it, and going through them was vastly easier than going through the state.

But I have a computer at home. I have enough discretionary income that the cost wasn't a hardship for me. That's not true of lots of people.

The other interesting thing is that my brand new birth certificate is nothing at all like the original archival one I originally got when I was 18 and the Telephone Company required new employees to cough up a birth certificate with the raised state seal on it to be employed. This one resembles the one the birthers complain so bitterly about, because it's just a certified transcript, not a photostat of the original.

But it worked for getting the pension I was applying for.

[jberryhill]

2. All birth certificates are like that now

The system was less secure when there were any of 50 different things that might look like a birth certificate. There is a verifiable audit trail for the issuance of the thing you received.

[SheilaT]

3. Yeah, it's got some numbers at the bottom

that might possibly be the number of this specific piece of paper.

All it gives is:
Name of Child (me)
Sex: Female
Date and time of birth: (I'm leaving that out)
Name of Mother
Name of Father
Date filed
State File Number.

I'm guessing the state file number connects the information given to the original, which had all sorts of interesting information such as my mother's maiden name, how many children were born before me to them, and their home address at the time. If I ever locate that original again I'll check the state file number against what's on this new one.

[jberryhill]

6. The file number is the same

More important, though is the date of issue of that certificate, which can be checked against the log of certificates issued and tied to the request to issue it. What you might have there is a form number, because unlike running off photocopies from paper or microfilm, it's easier to simply log that the document corresponding to the file number was generated and issues to you by your friendly Bureau of Vital Statistics. To Birthers, it looks less like a genuine document, but there is a better audit trail behind it.

[dem in texas]

4. Hard to get a copy of birth certificate in Texas

I have a disabled nephew who lived with his father (my brother) until his father passed away several years ago. His mother had died years earlier. My nephew did not have his Texas birth certificate and no Texas ID. I wanted to get him to apply for disabled housing, but he needed a Texas Id card. You cannot get an Texas ID without a birth certificate. Guess what, You can not get a copy of your birth certificate unless you have a ID, you can have a close family member apply, mother, father, brother, sister, but not aunt.

I took him downtown to the county records building. This was no easy task, he uses a wheel chair and I have trouble walking due to my arthritis. But you do what you have to do, so I pushed him all way from the parking garage into the building and rode the elevator up the second floor. The clerk at the counter said it was a no go, it had to be a person who was a court appointed guardian, which I am not, just a caring old aunt. I was so upset, I started crying and they got the head honcho out there and she told the clerk to let him apply for his copy of the birth certificate without the ID or guardianship papers.

Not fair to the people who need help, whose lives are not safe and regular and do not have the ability to keep up with all their records. So the politicians who say its is no big deal to get an Id card better thing again, I have been there and one that and it is not easy.

[freshwest]

8. I've been through the exact same thing, but in another state. Hard to prove you even exist!

[struggle4progress]

10. What a bluddy nightmare!

[SheilaT]

11. It does say

Certified Transcript of Birth at the top and it does have the raised seal of the State of New York, which is very important.

Interestingly enough, I was able to send a photocopy of this to prove I'm who I claim to be and so get the pension.

[illegaloperation]

5. North Carolina GOP will be in trouble

and it not just about voting suppression.

The Republicans have push North Carolina (normally a moderate state) far far right that there are now huge backlashes.

The anger is simmering and it will erupt at one point.

[mnhtnbb]

13. Today there will be 13 simultaneous rallies around the State of NC

to shine light on the unconstitutional and immoral acts of the NC General Assembly.

Hubby and I will be at the one in Chapel Hill.

The NC NAACP has organized these rallies in 13 Congressional Districts.

More info here: www.naacpnc.org

[struggle4progress]

7. North Carolina Restricts Voting Access in the Name of Reform

... Guest Columnist Nick Byrne
University of North Carolina School of Law
Class of 2015 ...

In the final hours of the North Carolina General Assembly's 2013 session, the Republican-controlled legislature passed House Bill 589 [PDF] (HB 589), an omnibus package of election law "reforms" aimed at further "securing the vote." A few weeks later HB 589 was signed into law by Republican Governor Pat McCrory, despite the Governor's initial admission that he "doesn't know enough" about certain provisions of the legislation and in the face of growing opposition from the public ...

Until recently, 40 of North Carolina's 100 counties were covered by Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act (VRA). Prior to the US Supreme Court ruling on Shelby County v. Holder in June, election law changes impacting any of these counties (and many others nationally) required preclearance review by the US Department of Justice. The Shelby County holding invalidated Section 4 (which set forth the formula for determining those jurisdictions subject to preclearance) and effectively voided Section 5 (the preclearance provision) of the VRA. It now appears that the Court's June decision prompted Republican members of the General Assembly to revisit previously filed legislation intent on further restricting ballot access and scaling back current election laws ...

... Of the more than 6 million individuals registered to vote in North Carolina, 318,643, or 5 percent, have no photo identification in the form of a driver license the most common state-issued photo identification card available to residents according to a recent analysis [PDF] by the state Board of Elections. Among these voters without photo identification, 34 percent are African-Americans while African-Americans comprise only 23 percent of total registered voters. Given the extent to which African-Americans identify as Democrats, it is unsurprising that 55 percent of total voters without photo ID are Democrats. In 2012, the number of African-Americans who voted without photo identification was 49,261 which represents a slightly higher figure of 36 percent. The law will also prohibit college-aged voters, which made up 16 percent of North Carolina's total turnout in 2012, from presenting their college-issued IDs when voting. In 2012, exit polls indicated 67 percent of young voters in North Carolina cast ballots for President Obama.

Though these figures might appear negligible when considering the over 4.5 million voters who cast ballots in North Carolina in 2012, they are far from it. North Carolina's recent battleground status and its growing influence in presidential contests means that this seemingly marginal number of voters — most of whom are minorities and youth who vote Democratic — can easily decide future election outcomes. In the previous two elections, President Obama won by a mere 14,000 votes in 2008 and Mitt Romney won by 92,000 votes in 2012 ...

http://jurist.org/dateline/2013/08/nick-byrne-voter-ID.php

[freshwest]

9. Reform to them is deforming. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, unless you wanna break it...

Sure hope this gets folks moved to vote the GOP out. They intend to have one party, theirs. Then Grover Nordquist will have his puppet with a few working digits. s4p, thanks for all you do to get people registered.

[Cha]

12. I've been thinking that since it started.

I can imagine people not having birth certificates.. and having a hard time gettting them.

OFA will be all over this in 2014

I remember this..

"WH Touts Kenyan Program to Obtain National ID Cards for Voter Registration"

snip//

"As President Obama and his family continue their tour of Africa, the White House put out a Fact Sheet entitled "U.S. Support for Strengthening Democratic Institutions, Rule of Law, and Human Rights in Sub-Saharan Africa." One of the first items highlighted by the White House is a $53 million program in Kenya that helps young people "obtain National identification cards, a prerequisite to voter registration."

snip//

• In Kenya, the $53 million Yes Youth Can program empowers nearly one million Kenyan youth to use their voices for advocacy in national and local policy-making, while also creating economic opportunities. In advance of Kenya’s March 2013 general elections, Yes Youth Can’s “My ID My Life” campaign helped 500,000 youth obtain National identification cards, a prerequisite to voter registration, and carried out a successful nationwide campaign with Kenyan civic organizations to elicit peace pledges from all presidential aspirants. [emphasis added]"

snip//

"And on the voter ID case, I can tell you that, as you know, this administration believes it should be easier for eligible citizens to vote -- to register and vote. We should not be imposing unnecessary obstacles or barriers to voter participation."

The repugs in NC forgot to think about this..

Remember that “for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” It’s the law — Newton’s Third Law of Motion. North Carolina’s new voter law is the action. I’ll be looking for the opposite reaction.

There's more..
http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/wh-touts-kenyan-program-obtain-national-id-cards-voter-registration_737990.html

thanks struggle.. great article.