Colbert Report Covers Voter ID Laws

"There have to be standards, folks." - Stephen Colbert

It seems the greatest truth tellers in our public discourse today are not found on the nightly news or cable TV news. They are comedians like Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, and the writers at The Onion, which this week summed up the debt-ceiling debate succinctly with the headline, "Congress Continues Debate Over Whether Or Not Nation Should Be Economically Ruined."

This week, Stephen Colbert devoted coverage to the nationwide push to restrict ballot access. Click here to watch the video:

"We need something a little more selective than a photo ID. Tell you what, these ID laws prove Republican legislators are great judges of who should vote, so let's just cut out the middle man and let only Republican legislators be voters. That way we will finally be certain that only the right people get elected."

Voting rights still threatened in North Carolina

Last month, Governor Perdue vetoed a Republican bill that would require every voter to present a government-issued photo ID before he or she could cast a ballot, saying, "North Carolinians who are eligible to vote have a constitutionally guaranteed right to cast their ballots, and no one should put up obstacles to citizens exercising that right."

"We must always be vigilant in protecting the integrity of our elections. But requiring every voter to present a government-issued photo ID is not the way to do it."

A vote to override her veto, while promised by the Republican leadership, has not been held, yet.

However, Republicans in the NC Senate are pushing even more sweeping and regressive changes to election law. SB 47 would repeal Same-Day Registration in North Carolina, ban straight-ticket voting, shorten Early Voting by a week, end Sunday voting and much more. Click here to read the WRAL report on SB 47.

Visit our allies at Democracy NC (http://democracy-nc.org/) to learn more and get involved in the fight to protect our voting rights!