Full effects of new voting laws still unknown

Source: Star-News, Wilmington, N.自存倉C.Aug. 24--The director of a good government advocacy group based in Raleigh said the state's new voter ID law could make it more difficult for students in Wilmington to cast a ballot -- a notion others said just isn't true."I think it's going to make voting harder for young people across the state and in Wilmington because now they will be unable to register and vote closer to the election. And they will not be able to, come 2016, vote unless they have a North Carolina driver's license or special-issued state ID that is not so easy to obtain," said Bob Phillips, director of Common Cause North Carolina.Student IDs won't count, and neither will out-of-state driver's licenses, he said.But the president of the College Republicans at the University of North Carolina Wilmington's campus says fear that students won't be able to vote is overblown."I think the law is going to be extremely helpful in eliminating voter fraud," said student James Northrop. "I don't think it's too much to ask to preserve the fundamental part of our democracy."Northrop continued that he didn't expect students to be affected by the law because most have their ID already, for opening a bank account and other essentials to moving out on their own. And he countered anyone who might consider the law disenfranchising to voters who are black or low income."A lot of people call it racist and make claims like that, but it's racist to call the bill racist," he said. "You're assuming minorities are incapable of obtaining an ID. You need an ID to get government welfare or unemployment benefits or government assistance," he said.Richard Poole, chairman of the New Hanover Democratic Party, disagreed."I think it's going to be a real barrier to voting for a lot of people," he said. "We're just at the beginning point of finding out how it's going to affect people. It's clearly going to affect young people, older people, women and minorities."As an example, Poole said it would affect women who change their name after a marriage or divorce."That's just one example," he said.More changes than just IDSamuel Ibrahim, chairman of the New Hanover County Republican Party, who has worked as an election judge, said many times folks already think an ID is required to vote and would come to the polls with it ready. "So people are in the habit," he said. "Voting is such an important part of our democracy ... to make sure it's valid. I'm a supporter of that initiative."In addition to requiring that voters show a North Carolina-issued picture ID at the polls, the bill also ends same day registration, cuts early voting to one week, ends pre-registration for 16- and 17-year-olds, increases the number of polls watchers who can challenge ballots and does away with straight-ticket voting."This is a mega election bill that do迷你倉新蒲崗s more than just the voter ID," Phillips said."I think they're trying to streamline the process," Ibrahim said.While the number of early voting days was cut, the amount of hours locations have to be open remains the same.In Pender County, 16,455 voters utilized one-stop early voting, or 66 percent of those casting a ballot in 2012. In New Hanover County, 59,606 utilized one-stop early voting or 58 percent of all voters. In Brunswick County, 16,517 voted early, almost 50 percent of the ballots cast.Dennis Boyles, director of the Pender County Board of Elections, said one of the biggest problems his county could face is the elimination of provisional ballot voting, that is voting in the wrong precinct. He said that in Hampstead, there are six precincts in a relatively small area. People, he said, get "very confused" about which polling place is theirs."We have one of the higher provisional ballet counts in the state for a county our size," Boyles said.Still sorting the law outThe other local directors of county election outfits said they're still wading through the law but will implement what is required."I don't know what the impact will be. The implemented process is administrative and we'll have to adjust our plan in implementation based on the way it's written," said Marvin McFadyen, director of the New Hanover County Board of Elections.Brunswick County Board of Elections Director Greg Bellamy said he doesn't think "anybody really knows what to expect until we get it implemented.""Everybody has a lot of opinions but nobody knows until we get it done. Our job is to implement," he said.The legislation also has an effect on campaign finance. It raises the maximum allowable donation from $4,000 to $5,000, ends requirements for outside groups to reveal their largest donors, allows groups to spend an unlimited amount of money between the May primaries and September and ends their need to disclose their sources or the amount spent.In addition, lobbyists are prohibited from bundling and passing along contributions."While some will try to make this seem to be controversial, the simple reality is that requiring voters to provide a photo ID when they vote is a common sense idea," McCrory said in a statement. "This new law brings our state in line with a healthy majority of other states throughout the country. This common sense safeguard is commonplace."The American Civil Liberties Union, the League of Women Voters -- in partnership with the A. Philip Randolph Institute, and the NAACP all filed suit to prevent the law's implementation.This report includes material from the Kinston Free Press.Metro desk: 343-2389On Twitter: @StarNewsMollyCopyright: ___ (c)2013 the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) Visit the Star-News (Wilmington, N.C.) at .starnewsonline.com Distributed by MCT Information Services迷你倉出租