A JOINT RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE 2007 GENERAL ASSEMBLY, REGULAR SESSION 2008, TO CONSIDER A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT to require government‑issued photo identification at the polling location and eliminating the fee for special identification cards.
Whereas, the prospect of election fraud threatens the integrity and the public's confidence in elections in North Carolina; and
Whereas, voter fraud results in suppressing the voice of valid voters by diluting the strength of their valid votes; and
Whereas, North Carolina is one of those states where voter fraud has marred the history of the electoral process; and
Whereas, a growing number of states, now at 18, have responded to the threat of voter fraud by requiring all voters to provide some kind of identification before voting; and
Whereas, the states of Florida, Georgia, and Indiana have sought to make their identification requirement more effective by insisting that the identification contain the voter's photograph; and
Whereas, despite North Carolina's history of voter fraud, this State has only the minimal voter identification mandated by Congress in the Help America Vote Act of 2002 for a tiny percentage of its voters; and
Whereas, one of the arguments in North Carolina against enacting a photo identification requirement has been doubt about whether such a measure would be constitutional; and
Whereas, on April 28, 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States, in Crawford et al. v. Marion County Election Board, 128 S. Ct. 1610, upheld Indiana's photo identification law against a constitutional challenge; and
Whereas, opinion polls indicate the public supports voter identification requirements, as when Rasmussen Reports asked likely voters nationwide in January 2008, "Should voters be required to show photo identification such as a drivers license before being allowed to vote?" and the percentage answering "yes" was 80%; Now, therefore,
Be it resolved by the House of Representatives, the Senate concurring:
SECTION 1.  The 2007 General Assembly, Regular Session 2008, may consider "A BILL TO BE ENTITLED AN ACT TO REQUIRE GOVERNMENT‑ISSUED PHOTO IDENTIFICATION AT THE POLLING LOCATION AND ELIMINATING THE FEE FOR SPECIAL IDENTIFICATION CARDS."
SECTION 2.  This resolution is effective upon ratification.