Left reduced to silly attacks on Voter ID amid broad voter support

RALEIGH – After the Thanksgiving holiday state lawmakers will make their way back to Jones Street to, among other things, build out legislation detailing Voter ID requirements. The Democratic minority and the governor are still opposed to the idea, often making it out to be a racist suppression tool from Republicans, despite the fact that voters across the political spectrum mostly support the idea.

Far be it from the Left to reverse their dividing stance on Voter ID to actually reflect the views of their constituents. Instead they are pushing past common sense and public sentiment to maintain their opposition, albeit with a more subtle approach.

Now that it is clear the majority of voters, including a respectable chunk of Democrats, support such common sense protections of ballot integrity, the professional Left is changing its method of attack to one of, “Yes, the people may support Voter ID, but Republicans are still power hungry minority suppressors, and don’t you forget it.”

The uncomfortable reality of broad support for Voter ID means Democrats are forced to scramble to maintain their opposition. Grasping at straws, they warn that the amendment passage doesn’t mean Republicans have a mandate (yes it does) and resort to downright silly arguments about protecting people who may lose their wallet near election time.

For example, Colin Campbell, a former News & Observer political news reporter that has transitioned to a more honest role as a Leftist opinion writer for the paper (though the content hasn’t changed much), is whining that Republicans still want to make it harder for some groups to vote.

Yes, voters support Voter ID, he says:

“Voters didn’t, however, get to decide what types of photo IDs should be accepted. The lame-duck legislature will answer that question, and one of the top House leaders, Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, told me he expects the new law will allow at least as many types of IDs as the old 2013 law. That list included North Carolina driver’s licenses, tribal ID cards, DMV-issued ID cards, U.S. passports and veterans’ ID cards issued by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. […]

[In a 2013 Voter ID law] the legislature refused to allow student ID cards at the polls. It didn’t matter that IDs issued by public universities are effectively government-issued IDs. There had been no reports of fraudulent student IDs. GOP legislators didn’t include student IDs because they know the majority of college students tend to vote for Democrats.”

See, it has now gone from ‘Voter ID is racist,’ to, ‘the GOP is suppressing the from-out-of-state student vote.’

Campbell gives a dismissive mention of the real reason some Republicans oppose including student IDs on that list: If a student is serious about voting as a resident of their college town, then they should simply update their license and registration to confirm such and to actually justify their participation in local elections. How does that not make sense? Otherwise, students merely serve as ballot farms worked by activists that use transitory quasi-residents to bolster their election day harvest. The fact that young and naive students skew heavily to the Left is a reality, but the notion that they, therefore, shouldn’t be required to take a routine step to establish residency is a weak argument.

But not as weak as Campbell’s next argument.

“Lawmakers will also decide if there will be exceptions to the voter ID requirement. If my wallet gets lost or stolen the day before an election, will I lose my right to vote? […]

Voters gave the General Assembly a clear mandate to require photo IDs at the polls. But that’s not an excuse to make voting harder — for college students, recent wallet theft victims, or any other group.”

That’s right; watch out for those mean Republicans’ attempt to suppress the vote of recent wallet theft victims.

This is what happens when the Left’s argument against Voter ID, and sensible forms of it that actually establish residency, is running out of gas. Just give it up; you look silly.