Joyce Krawiec serves in the North Carolina Senate. She represents Davie County and Forsyth County, NC. Christian, wife, mother, small business owner, and conservative.
Thank Goodness, a court finally ruled this past week in favor of the North Carolina citizens. The Voter ID requirement had been challenged in court and prevented from going forward by a single judge, Loretta Biggs. Even after being overwhelmingly passed as a Constitutional Amendment by the people of North Carolina, Judge Biggs didn’t care.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously struck down the decision. This court included an Obama appointee who voted with the 3-judge panel. The unanimous decision by the Circuit court exposes the partisan nature of the decision by Judge Biggs. When an activist judge overturns the will of the people, confidence in the system is eroded.
The court stated in its decision, “These errors fatally infected its finding of discriminatory intent. And when that finding crumbles, the injunction falls with it. The district court penalized the General Assembly because of who they are rather than what they did. The district court also overlooked the Constitutional Amendment. North Carolina voters constitutionally required a voter ID law and designated to the General Assembly the task of enacting the law.”
Judge Biggs also used the argument that the law was invalid because it did not include a public housing ID. That was just a red herring. There is no such thing as a Public Housing ID.
The Court also pointed out that the North Carolina law was more protective of the right to vote than other states’ Voter ID laws that have been upheld by the courts. This law also provided free IDs to anyone who lacks one. This court also pointed out that the burden of proof had been fundamentally ordered. A court finally makes rational sense.
Let’s look at the history of the Voter ID law in North Carolina. In 2013, the NC General Assembly passed a bill overhauling election law that included a photo voter ID. That law was struck down by a federal appeals court claiming it was discriminatory. It was appealed to the US Supreme Court. The Supreme Court refused to hear the argument because Attorney General Josh Stein opposed the law and asserted that he represented the state instead of the Legislature, sabotaging Legislative efforts to defend the law.
In 2018, our citizens approved a Constitutional Amendment to require voter ID in future elections. The legislature moved forward to craft the legislation to enact this law.
I was the primary sponsor of SB 824, Implementation of the Voter ID Constitutional Amendment. My cosponsor was an African American Democrat. Governor Cooper vetoed the bill, and the veto was overridden on December 18, 2018. Immediately lawsuits were filed to stop the wishes of millions of our citizens who had voted, overwhelmingly, to require a Voter ID in order to vote.
It’s still not finalized. Lawsuits were filed in both state and federal court. Eventually, this may end up at the Supreme Court again. Perhaps before the next election, we will finally be able to implement the wishes of our citizens and require a Voter ID.
We need to remember that every fraudulent vote that is cast, will nullify the vote of an eligible citizen and disenfranchises that voter. Besides diluting the vote of legitimate citizens, it can have a huge impact on close elections. And we have had many of those.
Reforms to protect elections, do not disenfranchise voters, but protect their voting rights. Americans deserve to feel that their sacred right to vote is protected. They also need to be informed when that precious right has been jeopardized. Voter fraud is real. There are many prosecutions to prove it. It’s not new. It’s been going on since voting began. It appears that it has been exposed on a massive scale in this most recent election.
We hear often that there is no voter fraud. Well, it’s certain that we won’t find it, if we don’t look for it.
Why would anyone oppose protecting the rights of voters? If we want free and fair elections, this shouldn’t be a partisan issue. We should all want to protect the votes of all legitimate voters.
Some argue that many minorities and poor communities lack photo ID. I don’t believe that’s true. I have been searching for years to find these folks. I have offered to help them acquire an ID. So far, I have found not one.
These folks who have spent so much time, energy, and resources on stopping this law, should join me in making sure that everyone who is eligible to vote had proper ID.
Stay tuned. It ain’t over ‘til the fat lady sings. I’m sure the same culprits will still be fighting to stop this commonsense requirement.
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Joyce Krawiec serves in the North Carolina Senate. She represents Davie County and Forsyth County, NC. Christian, wife, mother, small business owner, and conservative.