Students voting at the WCU early voting site, November 4, 2016. Photo by Chad Grant.
A large number of WCU students’ ability to vote in upcoming N.C. elections is still in the air.
The state Board of Elections is required by law to finalize its decisions today, March 15, on applications from nearly 100 public and private institutions, including the more than 250,000 students in the UNC system.
This week the state House and Senate approved and Gov. Roy Cooper signed a bill that would delay implementation of a photo identification requirement for voting until the 2020 election cycle.
On Feb. 22, Wake County Superior Court Judge G. Bryan Collins found the voter ID amendment unconstitutional. According to Collins, the North Carolina General Assembly is so gerrymandered that its members cannot properly represent the people of the state, meaning they should have never proposed constitutional amendments.
The amendment, which was approved by voters in the 2018 midterm elections, required that an individual must provide a photo ID to a poll worker in order to vote. These photo IDs include driver licenses, military and veteran cards, passports, tribal enrollment cards, college IDs and state ID cards for nondrivers.
Quickly, the amendment was met with disapproval.
According to Dr. Todd Collins, WCU’s Public Policy Institute Director and political science professor, the amendment could present a couple constitutional issues. First, a court could rule that is has the potential to discriminate or have an unequal impact on voters on a basis of race.
“Even if there is not a clear discriminatory intent, if it can be shown that it has an unequal impact (even if the law itself is racially neutral) then it could be ruled unconstitutional,” said Collins in an email.
This supports the argument against the amendment that it diminishes the value of African-American voters.
Another example is Judge G. Bryan Collins’ stance that unlawful gerrymandering resulted in an amendment that does not properly represent the interests of people of the state.
However, according to Todd Collins, this is “more ‘creative’ way to rule the amendment unconstitutional.”
Following Collins’ decision to toss out the amendment, a waiting game ensues. If the amendment is not overturned, some serious changes will be made to how WCU students will vote in elections.
While the amendment would allow the use of student IDs as a photo ID, there is a strict list of requirements that a university must met for student IDs to be considered valid. Currently, no UNC Institution meets the requirements.
According to the Genera Assembly of North Carolina, some of the requirements include:
- The identification cards that are issued by the university or college contain photographs of students taken by the university or college or its agents or contractors.
- The identification cards are issued after an enrollment process that includes methods of confirming the identity of the student that include, but are not limited to, the social security number, citizen status, and birthdate of the student.
- The equipment for producing the identification cards is kept in a secure location.
- The cards issued by the university or college contain a date of expiration, effective January 1, 2021.
To see the full list of requirements click here.
In addition to this list of requirements, the State Board of Elections created a form that would certify compliance from the institutions with this criteria. In order for a university’s student IDs to serve as valid proof of identity, university officials must sign the “attestation form” by March 15. If the form is not signed by then, the IDs will not count as valid proof of identity in elections through 2020. If an institution were to sign the attestation form but fail to comply with the criteria, it could result in criminal charges pressed against either the chancellor or president of that institution.
While none of the schools in the UNC system have filed the required paperwork, Appalachian State University’s SGA passed a bill that urges Chancellor Everts to sign the attestation form, making the AppCard a viable ID. However, Chancellor Everts still has not signed the from. Since universities have yet to sign the form, Rep. Ray Russell is currently co-sponsoring a bill that would extend the March 13 deadline to Sept. 15 for universities. While university and college officials strongly support this bill, it has not passed yet.
Similar to Appalachian State, WCU’s Student Democracy Coalition (see S19-02.pdf) presented a resolution to Student Government Association that supported WCU in working towards establishing student IDs that fit the requirements of the amendment.The Student Democracy Coalition is a student organization that strives to promote voting amongst students as well as educate the community on everything voting related.
According to Fiona Buchanan, from WCU’s Student Democracy Coalition, it is impossible for WCU’s Administration to agree to comply with these requirements on such short notice. As a result, Cat Cards will not serve as a valid form of identification in future elections if the amendment is not overturned.
Since Cat Cards will not be a valid ID, students will have to overcome the hurdle of ensuring valid identification. According to Buchanan, this would negatively impact out-of-state students, financially insecure and homeless students as well as transgender students.
Out-of-state students will have to obtain a form of state issued photo ID. As a result, they will have to go to Jackson County Board of Elections (BOE) for an approved form of ID.
Students that are financially insecure or homeless may not have the funds to purchase or means to go to Jackson County BOE for an ID.
Transgender students face the possibility of being turned away at a polling place if their appearance no longer matches the photo on the ID.
Similar to how the amendment has been viewed as targeting African-American voters, Buchanan thinks that the amendment is also silencing the votes of college students.
“This is a huge tactic of voter suppression put forth by the General Assembly to keep college students from voting, a demographic that is known for being left-leaning,” said Buchanan in an email. “Disregarding the party affiliation of college age students, this amendment will be an attempt to take away the voice of an entire generation in North Carolina.”
Related Story:
CPP: Voter ID delayed, college student IDs remain in question
