Republican lawmakers in North Carolina have introduced the most blatantly partisan voter suppression bill I have ever seen. It’s purpose is to disenfranchise college students. This is not even debatable. Senate Bill 667 would take away parents’ ability to declare their children as dependents if they register to vote at a different address. It would also require students to register their cars at the same address used on their voter registration. So, let’s say that you live in Asheville, North Carolina and your daughter goes to Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. If she wants to vote in Durham (because that is where she will be during the first week of November), she must reregister her car there. And her decision to register to vote there will cost you a couple of thousand dollars because you will lose your child deduction on your state income taxes.
These provisions have been rolled into the appropriately named Senate Bill 666 “which would also shorten early voting days, ban early voting on evenings and weekends and prohibit same-day registration.”
The most amazing thing is that the Republicans aren’t even seriously trying to hide their intent.
In an emailed statement this afternoon, [Bill] Cook, [R-Beaufort] defended S666 and S667, saying their reforms “will be appreciated by citizens in this state who view voting as a sacred civic duty.”
“In these tough economic times, we need to be proactive in finding ways to save money. One day of early voting in North Carolina costs $98,000. Our counties bear this cost exclusively. Cutting back early voting from seventeen to ten days does this by saving roughly $686,000 per election. This money would be better used to hire teachers and first responders,” Cook said.
“We are simply equalizing the playing field for all voters in our state,” the statement said.
Jay DeLancy of the NC Voter Integrity Project also voiced support for the student voting restrictions, citing a case in which college students in Buncombe County changed the outcome of a race for a county commission seat in 2012.
“That race showed how easily college students can be manipulated like pawns,” DeLancy said in a press release. “These bills will protect students from such abuse.”
Sure, Rep. Cook pays lip-service to the idea that he’s really just trying to save money, but then he acknowledges that he’s trying to “equalize the playing field.” Jay DeLancy is even more blunt. Because college students voted for someone he didn’t like, their vote must be taken away. Disenfranchising them will protect them from abuse.
Unbelievable.
It’s so brazen that the average person can’t even imagine that it could be true. But here it is.
