New voter identification laws could sharply curb voter participation in N.C. and other states, says Gunther Peck.
"These laws -- think of them as rotting the foundation of our democracy," Peck says. Peck is an associate professor of history and public policy at Duke University.
Transcript:
From Duke University, this is "Glad You Asked," where we consider the question "What should we be talking about this election season?"
"My name is Gunther Peck, I'm an associate professor of history in the Sanford School as well as in the department of history here at Duke University.
I think the most important issue for me are voting rights. Twenty states have passed laws that have tightened restrictions. North Carolina's is the most far-reaching and the most restrictive voting identification law in the country.
"So the North Carolina law requires voters to have photo identification. It has eliminated same-day registration. It also has shortened early voting.
"One of the least talked about but most consequential provisions of this law is that if you vote outside of your precinct -- let's say you've moved and you vote in your new precinct -- in the old law, you would cast a provisional ballot. As long as you were registered correctly, it would count.
"In the current law, if you vote out of your precinct, they'll give you a ballot, and you could even vote. But it would be disqualified as an 'out of precinct' provisional ballot. Those are now technically illegal.
"This is the first presidential election in which the real teeth of this law will be manifest, and so we don't yet know fully how many people will be discouraged from voting or outright disfranchised. But up until this election cycle North Carolina has been the closest state in the union, two election cycles in a row.
"The estimates by our own board of elections is that nearly 500,000 North Carolina voters would not be able to meet the photo identification requirements of the new law. So half a million people potentially disfranchised.
"So, these laws -- think of them as rotting the foundation of our democracy. We can debate all day long issues in civil or less than civil terms. But if people are compromised in their ability to vote, it skews the entire election.
"So it's not about winning. It's about what these laws have done to the very essence of our democracy -- to what makes votes representative."
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