So, why haven’t we heard much about the latest SBOE analysis on people who may not have a valid form of ID? That’s right, this month the SBOE has done another comparison of the statewide voter registration database and the NC Division of Motor Vehicles database.
This is at least the third time the SBE has performed such a comparison since the Republicans gained the majority in 2010. Barely a month after the election, Bob Hall of Democracy NC emailed SBOE Director Gary Bartlett with the idea of running a comparison of the records. (He got the idea from an AP article of South Carolina doing something similar). Here is the first email from Hall to Bartlett on the subject, which ultimately results in more than 200 additional emails between Hall and SBOE staff. Most of the subsequent emails are planning and “perfecting” the methodology and results for the first-ever comparison of North Carolina voter registration to DMV numbers.
Here is the last email, dated March 15, 2011, in the long string of emails that included recipients such as Representative Deborah Ross (D-Wake) and Mark Binker (at the time, a reporter for the Greensboro News and Record, and now a reporter for WRAL). There were also directions on what to include and not include in the data comparison and press releases that charged that almost 1 million registered voters would be disenfranchised if the new Republican majority were to pass voter photo ID.
The second comparison was conducted in January 2013 and in March 2013, when the SBOE added a supplemental report. Unfortunately, Civitas doesn’t have any emails that relate to second set of comparisons, but the results showed that more than 600,000 voters “may” not have valid ID and would thus be disenfranchised. We must keep in mind that when the Left refer to these results, they just go ahead and say these people don’t have ID, not that they don’t match a DMV list. The first two reports were paraded to the media by Bob Hall of Democracy NC and backed up by the SBOE, who validated his claims.
In the introduction of the latest analysis (April 2013 Report), Gary Bartlett explains that the January and March 2013 reports were never “intended to be a “comprehensive study on the number of voters who may not have any ID, regardless of source”. He also informs us that the only reason they prepared the January analysis was as a “result of various legislative and media inquiries”.
The newest update came as a result of recent requests from legislative leaders and staff.
And wow — is it an update! This time the number of voters who the SBOE could not identify as a NCDMV match was 318,643 and of those only 255,160 were active voters. And we should also note that of the 318,643 total active voters without a matching DL number, only 138,425 voted in the November 2012 General Election.
We know why we haven’t seen or heard much of this new voter analysis in the mainstream media — it doesn’t promote their point of view and they haven’t had the liberal-left promoting it. We also must conclude that the leadership in the Legislature didn’t think it was important enough to hold a press conference.
But here is a new question: Why does the Republican leadership keep going to the SBOE for validation? The SBOE has worked against them since January 2011. Along with the pushback on voter photo ID, the SBOE worked alongside Bob Hall and Democracy NC to attack the majority over HAVA funds. So, why is it so important for this SBOE to issue a new report that shows less people may be affected by a voter photo ID bill? And, let’s face it, even this report probably vastly exaggerates the number of voters who may need to receive a free voter ID.
As always, I contend that North Carolina need only look as far as the State of Georgia to find the answers to their voter photo ID questions. Brian Kemp, Georgia’s Secretary of State, testified just a few short weeks ago to the North Carolina House Elections Committee that Georgia has issued less than 30,000 free ID’s and their law has been in effect since 2006! There are a lot of things we should have learned and copied from Georgia’s voter ID bill and tomorrow we will begin to look at them on this blog. See you then.
Leave a Comment