Tagged: Voting

In 2010, when Republicans won control of the state House and Senate, they radically redrew voting districts in favor of their own party.  In previous elections, Democrats have done the same.  Now, there's a bipartisan effort in the state House of Representatives to reform the redistricting process.

A steady stream of voters are making their way to the polls this election day across North Carolina.   Elections officials predict as many as two million people will vote today.

Leoneda Inge:  More than two-point-five million people voted early in North Carolina. But not Latarcha Lee of Durham.

Latarcha Lee:  It’s just kind of special like, wait til the last minute, you know.

Leah Tedrick-Moutz isn’t that much of a traditionalist.

At the start of our nation, a very small margin of people was allowed the right to vote. Due to decades of struggle, that right is much more widespread today, however, some experts say it’s becoming harder to fulfill.

State lawmakers failed to include matching money in the budget they passed yesterday for federal funds to help administer the 2012 elections. The state must provide 660 thousand dollars in order to receive four million dollars in matching funds. It's authorized by the Help America Vote act, passed by Congress in 2002. Lawmakers included money in previous House and Senate budget versions, but not the consensus budget. Brent Laurenz heads the North Carolina Center for Voter Education, a non-profit, non-partisan organization in Raleigh.

Lawmakers have passed a bill that would require voters to show photo identification at the polls.

State senators passed the bill as expected last night, but not before more than an hour of spirited debate. Republican Buck Newton told lawmakers requiring voters to bring ID with them to the polls will help combat instances of fraud.