When your sad story backfires on you

This morning an opinion piece from NC Policy Watch came to my attention.

• North Carolinians highlight struggles getting photo IDs ahead of amendment vote

The article is trying for a last push to stop North Carolina Voter ID Amendment (2018), which will require a photo ID in order to vote. In an unrelated, but related, manner, there is also a push to get everyone in NC on Read IDs.

On Oct. 1, 2020, the Transportation Security Administration will begin enforcing REAL ID requirements at airport security checkpoints. Federal agencies will begin requiring REAL ID-compliant licenses and IDs for admission to a variety of federal facilities.

Of course, this push for Real ID has caused some concern, due to the lines at the DMV. But, Real ID isn't required until October 2020, which is still a couple of years off. Which means the focus is back to Voter ID.

The NC Policy Watch article starts out with a sad story about a woman who had to save up 3 months of bus fare in order to pay for the $10 photo ID.

Franklin is in her 60s; she has a disability, can’t work and lives in Charlotte with her two sons. She doesn’t drive and she doesn’t have reliable transportation.

Franklin lives on government dole, so her money is limited. This is understandable. One of the biggest issues with property taxes is, it affects the elderly the worst. They have spent decades in their house and probably have paid it off and now live on fixed incomes, but due to demand, have seen the price of their house and the cost of property taxes skyrocket. The people who implement the increases on property taxes say that it is only a $1 or so, but for those on a fixed income, it becomes more than that. So, I feel sorry for Ms. Franklin that she has limited means.

But, she lives with her two sons, whom I am guessing are more than able to work and get a job to buy a car to drive their poor disabled mother around when she needs it. At a minimum, they could give her the $10 she needs to get the ID. It would have been nice for the author of the article to call out her sons on this issue.

One key point that Ms. Franklin brings up is her realization that a photo ID isn't racist.

She used to think the discrimination and oppression she experienced was because she was Black, but over the years, she said, she started realizing it was because she was poor.

I wonder what changed her mind?

Anyway, this is usually the main argument against Voter ID, that people are too poor or don't have the resources to get it. However, they need a photo ID to do just about anything else in life. Also, having a photo ID opens up opportunities that could get them out of being poor.

After a bit more conversation with Ms. Franklin the article goes on to some other examples.

The Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ) also released five videos this week aimed at educating voters about who may be disenfranchised if the photo ID constitutional amendment is passed in November.

Any group with the name "Social Justice" in it immediately causes red flags in my book. And they delivered with three examples of voter fraud masqueraded as voter ID problems.

highlights are mine

• Mina Ezikpe, who registered to vote while a student at Duke University and was turned away from the polls without casting a ballot in 2016 for lacking North Carolina issued identification;
• Jaden Peay, an out-of-state sophomore at North Carolina Central University who volunteers to register other students to vote but only has his South Carolina driver’s license and school identification card, making it unlikely that he would be able to vote in future elections.
• Matthew Tran, a Duke University student, still has a Missouri driver’s license because he moves frequently while in school and his most permanent address is where his family still lives. If a North Carolina-issued ID is required to vote in future elections, he might not be able to participate in the political process – a right that is important to him since his immigrant parents fled their countries for political freedom.

These three have the same thing in common, temporary students residing in voting districts that is not their home district. New Hampshire just passed a law that hit this issue head on.

• New Hampshire makes it tougher for students to vote. Democrats call it 'devious' suppression.

This devious suppression is requiring individuals to be domiciled in the town where they want to vote.

To be eligible to register and vote in New Hampshire a person must be:

• 18 years of age or older on election day;
• A United States Citizen; and
• Domiciled in the town or ward where the person seeks to vote.

The law specifically outlines that

shall be the principal or primary home or place of abode of a person. Principal or primary home or place of abode is that home or place in which his or her habitation is fixed and to which a person, whenever he or she is temporarily absent, has the intention of returning after a departure or absence therefrom, including when the person is absent because of military service or temporarily absent

And, while this would affect college students temporarily located on college campuses, this is a bigger issue in New Hampshire.

• N.H. Charges Hampton Couple With Felony For Allegedly Voting In Two States In 2016

The couple voted absentee for New Hampshire and at the voting location in Massachusetts. The changes to the law would make it obvious to people, that you vote only from your primary residence. College students should also know that this is the law. College students can give a lame excuse as to why they won't mail in their absentee ballot, but there is no lame excuse for voting in a district that they shouldn't be voting in at all.

• Why college students don’t vote absentee? They don’t know where to buy a postage stamp

While this might not seem like a huge issue, just think of places that have 10,000 or more college students crammed into a campus that's only a mile or so wide. That sway in voting can keep a representative in office, who doesn't really represent the permanent residents of the college town. And, if the student could find a stamp, they might just vote twice.

Voting is very important, it affects us all and it is important that we know that the people casting the vote are who they are and are voting where they should be voting. Of course, getting those votes tallied correctly is a whole other issue.

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