North Carolina's governor has vetoed legislation implementing a voter photo identification mandate added to the state's constitution in a recent referendum.Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper has repeatedly opposed voter ID legislation and put his veto stamp to the latest bill Friday.
"Requiring photo IDs for in-person voting is a solution in search of a problem. Instead, the real election problem is votes harvested illegally through absentee ballots, which this proposal fails to fix," Cooper said in a statement.
An override is likely because Republicans in the GOP-dominated General Assembly have been united in supporting the legislation finalized last week.
The bill fills in details to carry out the constitutional amendment approved by voters last month requiring photo ID for in-person voting. The legislation greatly expands the number of qualifying IDs and exceptions compared to legislation blocked earlier this decade.
Democratic legislators acknowledge voter ID rules are necessary because of the referendum but say details are being rushed and will prevent some minorities and poor people from voting.