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N.C. Gov. Pat McCrory Defends New Voter ID Law

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Pat McCrory is pictured in July 2012, during his campaign for governor of North Carolina. (Hal Goodtree/Flickr)

The American Civil Liberties Union says it’s going to take legal action to stop the country’s newest — and one of its most restrictive — voter ID laws, signed into law yesterday by Republican Governor Pat McCrory of North Carolina.

The new law requires voters to show government-issued photo ID cards, and outlaws college ID cards or out-of-state driver’s licenses as valid forms of identification.

The law also eliminates same-day voter registration, and allows any registered voter to challenge another’s eligibility.

“We’re requiring the same identification that you need to get almost any government services, including food stamps, including a tattoo in North Carolina, including Sudafed in North Carolina,” Gov. McCrory told Here & Now. “And we’re offering free government-issued IDs to anyone who doesn’t have one, at our local DMVs.”

An analysis by the group Democracy North Carolina found that 318,000 North Carolina voters do not have a driver’s license or other form of state-issued ID card. These are predominantly voters of color, elderly and poor voters.

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Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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