Voter photo ID bill for NC unveiled in House.

By: The Associated Press 03/14/11 8:27 PM

The Associated Press

A bill requiring voters to show valid photo identification to a cast ballot in North Carolina also contains campaign finance rules, some of which were added in response to the investigation of former Gov. Mike Easley's campaign.

The measure filed in the House by three Republicans on Monday says anyone who wants to vote in person would have to show one of eight valid photo ID cards. They include a driver's license, U.S. passport and new voter identification cards that would be issued for free by county boards of elections.

If people don't give valid ID, they still can cast a provisional ballot. But it won't be counted unless they bring their photo ID to the county elections board and sign an affidavit confirming their identity under penalty of perjury.

The bill also would go beyond photo IDs. It would make clear a candidate is financially liable for civil penalties issued by the State Board of Elections if the candidate failed to correct a violation the campaign was alerted to that led to the fine.

Rep. Ric Killian, R-Mecklenburg, one of the primary sponsors of the bills, said the provision is connected to Easley, whose campaign committee was fined $100,000 in October 2009 by the state elections board for failing to report campaign flights.

Current law requires registered voters give a name and address to a poll worker to confirm they are on the books. Only first-time voters who didn't have a valid ID when they registered must show a current photo ID or an identifying document like a utility bill or bank statement.

Voters want tougher rules to deter fraud, said Killian. The bill will be debated by the House Elections Committee on Tuesday.

The photo ID requirement "insures that the person who is going to vote has confidence that the vote that they are casting is being counted against their name, and that makes them feel no one else has taken their vote," Killian said.

Opponents say fraud isn't a widespread problem and the requirement will discourage people from voting who may not have current photo ID. State voter registration and motor vehicle records show about 461,000 active registered voters may not have a current and valid identification card, according to the election reform group Democracy North Carolina.

Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, the House Elections Committee chairman, said he expected to take a vote on the bill Tuesday. Forty-five people already had signed up to speak at the meeting. If approved, the measure still likely would have to go to a budget committee.

Killian said the measure would pass legal muster and is modeled in part upon Georgia's law. The bill would cost the state money — the State Board of Elections would provide equipment and training necessary for county elections offices to issue the cards.

The Mike Easley Committee paid a fraction of its $100,000 fine because the campaign ran out of money paying its legal bills. Easley, a Democrat, was convicted nearly four months ago of a low-level felony and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine for an improperly filed campaign finance report related to a flight that wasn't reported.

The measure also would prohibit campaign contributions to a candidate by executives of companies that have a state contract of at least $25,000 in which the elected office the candidate is running for awards personally or whose agency awards the contract. A similar provision was pushed by the House during the last legislative session but didn't pass the Senate.

The bill also would limit the chairman of the State Board of Elections to serve no more than two, two-year terms. The current chairman, Democrat Larry Leake, has been the board's leader since 1997.

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