“Moral March” participants who are apparently protesting North Carolina’s voter ID law today at the state capitol in Raleigh are required by organizers to have a photo ID. The Moral March is reportedly being sponsored by the NAACP.
Among a list of do’s and don’ts (see embed below) for those who are participating in today’s anti-voter ID march includes the following instruction: “DO bring photo identification (driver’s license, passport or other valid photo ID) with you and keep it on your person at all times.”
Whether it’s the Moral March, the Tea Party , or any other group, the right to peacefully assemble is enshrined in the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. In general, however, some of the organizations that protest voter ID laws across the country on grounds of a mythical “voter suppression” also quite often arrange for transportation to bus people to the polls on Election Day. With that in mind, and as a solutions-oriented approach, why not bus those people who allegedly lack a photo ID to the DMV, where they often can obtain a photo ID free of charge?
Republican state rep. David Lewis told The Daily Caller that “find it extremely hypocritical that when nearly 70 percent of North Carolinians across all political spectrums support the idea that one present photo identification when going to the polls, the NC NAACP has filed suit in court to block this common-sense idea. However, the NC NAACP requires their protesters to maintain valid photo identification on their person throughout the march. The idea that Chairman William Barber and his followers find it more important to carry their photo identification with them when marching than when electing the President of the United States is reprehensible.”
Putting aside ideology, as a practical matter, to function successfully in day-to-day life, you need a photo ID. No one seems to have a problem showing ID to get on a plane, opening up a bank account or cashing a check, picking up a package at the post office or UPS or FedEx, applying for government assistance, checking into a motel, completing a credit card transaction, getting a beer at the ballpark, buying cigarettes (for those foolish enough to still smoke), and even to vote in a union election. You even need a photo ID to buy recreational or medical marijuana in those states where it is legal, and there have no reported problems in that regard.
You even needed a photo ID to get into the Democrat’s own national convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, in 2012.
#MoralMarch will protest NC’s new “racist” #VoterID , but you’re req’d to bring photo ID to the march. #ncpol pic.twitter.com/w14mzejdSn
— Stacey-SisterToldjah (@sistertoldjah) February 8, 2014
Most (but not all) Democrats and their allied groups consider government-issued photo identification (usually a driver’s license) as a voting requirement to be almost the equivalent of waterboarding. When such laws are passed by GOP-controlled state legislatures, voter ID opponents run to the courts to try to block implementation. The US Justice Department — under Obama and Eric Holder — is a foe of voter ID laws and is fighting some states — including North Carolina — tooth and nail about their photo ID laws. Ironically perhaps, a member of the public needs a photo ID to enter the Justice Department headquarters in Washington, D.C.
On the other hand, the Democrat-controlled legislature in Rhode Island passed a voter ID law, and there were no problems at the polling places during the 2012 presidential election.
As noted above, the Moral March is led by Rev. William Barber who recently made headlines for calling Tim Scott, the US Senator from South Carolina , a “ventriloquist’s dummy.”
Do you favor or oppose voter ID laws as one way to help prevent vote fraud? In the real — rather than the rhetorical — world, do you believe it is actually difficult for any legal US voter to obtain the appropriate government-issued photo identification?
[image credit: Avala ]