N. C. Voter laws restrict ballot access
Published August 7, 2013
by Brian Irving, Communications Director, NC Libertarian Party, published in News and Observer, August 6, 2013.
Marc Landry came close to the truth in his July 31 column “New voting safeguards don’t go far enough.” All that people must do to register to vote is to certify under oath they’re an American citizen and a resident. That’s as it should be.
The American justice system is based on the principle that it’s better for a guilty man to go free than for an innocent man to be convicted. Our electoral system should be based on a similar principle, that it’s better to risk voter fraud than it is to prevent or restrict a person from exercising the right to vote.
Real election fraud doesn’t occur in the voting booth but on the ballot itself. North Carolina has the second-most restrictive ballot-access laws in the nation. True voter fraud isn’t perpetrated by voters, but by the Republican-Democrat duopoly that completely controls the electoral process. They erect burdensome barriers for all political groups but themselves, making it very difficult for alternate political parties and independent candidates to run for office, and restricting the people’s right to vote for candidates they choose.
August 8, 2013 at 1:43 am
dj anderson says:
Certainly no rigor in signing your name under the oath, with no proof of age, identity, address,or even an address required.
I've never heard of someone, anyone, being sentenced for lying under oath, have you? So, that's proof that it never happened? Better that way if you are Libertarian. Would people lie or cheat to vote? What's to stop them? Is it unreasonable for someone to lack confidence in the vote?
I thought Libertarians were big on personal responsibility. Ya'd think that with the remaining 13 days to early vote, with all this time to register before the vote, with free ID offered, the Libertarians would expect people to care enough, even be capable of preparing to vote.
Libertarians should support the ending of straight ticket voting, and should be advocating the ending to party labels beside the name of candidates, but they don't want any proof of anything to vote, it seems.
August 19, 2013 at 1:30 pm
Jason A. Thomas says:
One classmate of mine in law school was convicted of perjury and sentenced as a felon. He didn't lie about voting; he lied about being served in a civil suit, something much less important in the grand scheme of things. Prosecutors do take that seriously.
