Speaker Moore Responds to Voter ID Veto

Raleigh, N.C. – State House Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland) responded to a late-Friday afternoon veto of legislation implementing a voter ID constitutional amendment approved by a majority of North Carolina voters in November.

Governor Cooper’s veto message accused a majority of North Carolina voters of “sinister” motives in supporting a recent constitutional amendment proposing voter ID and called the people’s approval of voter ID the “cynical origins” of Senate Bill 824 Implementation of Voter ID Const. Amendment.

Though Gov. Cooper’s veto message said the voter ID bill “fails to fix” absentee ballots, in-fact the legislation directly addresses ballot harvesting with an amendment that was proposed by a House Democrat and approved by a vote of 106-1.

Gov. Cooper’s veto message also said S.B. 824 was “designed to suppress the rights” of voters, even though it allows any voter to assert a “reasonable impediment” at the polls for why they don’t have a qualifying ID.

The legislation further accommodates religious objectors, provides for free state-issued IDs, and accepts a broad range of qualifying IDs including student IDs, drivers’ licenses, passports, military and veteran IDs, voter and state employee cards, and Native American tribal cards. S.B. 824 even allows drivers’ licenses from other states to qualify in some circumstances.

“We are disappointed that Gov. Cooper chose to ignore the will of the people and reject a commonsense election integrity measure that is common in most states, but the North Carolina House will override his veto as soon as possible,” said Speaker Tim Moore (R-Cleveland).    

Thirty-four other states have some form of voter ID law.  North Carolina is the last state in the Southeast not to require some form of voter ID.