North Carolina Republicans Outvoted Dems During 2010 Elections: White Voters

N.C. State Republicans Outvoted Democrats

Registered N.C. Republicans voted at higher rates than Democrats in dozens of counties this year, according to an analysis by Democracy North Carolina.

The turnout rate for registered Republicans was 50 percent statewide, the elections watchdog group reported, while the rate for Democrats was 44 percent. Thirty-three percent of unaffiliated voters cast ballots. Turnout overall was 44 percent.

"We're highlighting the differences to help understand what happened in 2010, but the numbers show that nobody can be proud of the voter participation rate for their party or sub-group," Bob Hall, Democracy North Carolina executive director said in a statement.

In 2006 and 2008, registered Democrats and Republicans voted at about the same rates.

This year, Republicans ages 66 and older outvoted their Democratic counterparts. And older voters cast ballots at a much higher rate than voters 18 to 25 years old - 60 percent vs. 18 percent.

Compared to the last mid-term election in 2006, black voter participation increased more than for whites. Black voter turnout increased from 29 percent to 40 percent, while turnout among white voters increased from 39 percent to 46 percent.



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WRAL, Google Maps

North Carolina Voter ID Law In The Works: Voter Fraud Prevention

GOP Wants Photo IDs For N.C. Voters


The next time N.C. Voters go to the polls, they may have to offer more than their names and signatures. They might need a photo ID.

Republicans who take control of the General Assembly in January want to make North Carolina the 10th state requiring voters to show a driver's license or other photo ID. House leaders hope to pass a bill in their first 100 days.

Supporters call it a common-sense way to avoid Voter Fraud.

"It's necessary to ensure the integrity of the entire system," says GOP Rep. Ric Killian, a Charlotte Republican who sponsored a similar measure in 2009.

Skeptics fear it would dampen turnout, particularly among the elderly and disadvantaged, who tend to vote Democratic. Some say it's simply unnecessary.

"It's largely addressing a problem that doesn't exist," says Chris Kromm, executive director of the Institute for Southern Studies in Durham. "You have a greater chance of getting struck by lightning than having a case of voter fraud."

But use of voter IDs is growing.

Since 2003, 12 states have enacted some form of ID requirement, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. In addition to the nine states that demand a photo ID, 18 others require some form of identification.

Senator: It's 'common sense'

Republican Sen. David Rouzer of Johnston County said that "just makes common sense."

"My constituents, the overwhelming majority of them, are absolutely appalled that there is no required photo identification when you go and vote," he says.

ID proponents say they're concerned about voters misrepresenting themselves, voting more than once or engaging in some other type of fraud. How widespread the problem is is unclear.

In 2007 the New York University's Brennan Center for Justice issued a report saying "most allegations of fraud turn out to be baseless." An initial report by the federal Election Assistance Commission that year also concluded that fraud was rare, though a controversial final version said there was "a great deal of debate" about how widespread it was.

In North Carolina, state elections director Gary Bartlett says there were 18 cases of double-voting in 2008 out of millions of votes cast.

It's also unclear to what extent a photo ID requirement might depress turnout.

Indiana's experience

In Indiana, which has one of the country's most stringent ID requirements, 2.8 million people voted in the 2008 general election. A later study showed that 1,039 lacked a valid ID and had to cast a provisional ballot. They had 10 days to go to an elections office and either show an ID or sign an affidavit explaining why they couldn't.

Only 137 were ultimately counted.

"That probably undercounts people who were disenfranchised," says Michael Pitts, an Indiana University law professor who co-authored the study. "Others knew they didn't have an ID and didn't bother to vote."

NYU's Brennan Center says as many as 10 percent of eligible voters lack documents required by some ID laws. For some groups, the percentage is higher.

Jennie Bowser, an NCSL election analyst, says it's not clear how effective photo IDs would be in either preventing fraud or in stifling turnout.

"Unfortunately," she says, "there's not a whole lot of evidence to support the claims of either side."

Some see partisan motives behind the GOP efforts.

"Most of it is being driven by the erroneous perception of Republicans that the best thing that can happen to them is rain on election day," says Curtis Gans, director of the Center for the Study of the American Electorate. "A lot of Republicans believe they have a better chance of winning if the turnout's low."

But Killian says nobody should balk at an ID requirement.

"What's the harm in folks having to show identification to show they're a citizen?" he says. "That's not too much to ask to participate in this great democracy."


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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, WRAL, Google Maps

GOP Regains North Carolina Senate & House! Yeah!!!

Legislative Changes On The Way In North Carolina Senate & House


N.C. Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight, D-Dare, has been one of the most powerful individuals in state government since the early 1990s, but his long reign as the Senate's top leader appears to be at an end.

Republican candidates for the N.C. Senate appeared to be taking over that chamber for the first time since 1898 and the party's candidates for the House appeared to be winning the House of Representatives for the first time since 1997 as well.

With an Anti-Incumbent mood running among voters in legislative elections, Democrats in North Carolina who dominated the General Assembly in the 20th and so far the 21st centuries will surely find Raleigh a far different place when the General Assembly reconvenes in 2011.

Democrat Bev Perdue will still be Governor for at least another two years, of course, but many things are likely to change

Republicans who have been thwarted in their legislative efforts will find a different atmosphere. The electoral change would open up new leadership opportunities for Republicans such as Sen. Bob Rucho of Charlotte and Rep. Thom Tillis of Mecklenburg.

The Senate changes include the biennial drafting of the state budget, for which Republicans have been laying plans for months to trim more than $3 billion from the state's roughly $20 billion operating budget. Some plans envision cutting up to 20 percent to make ends meet.

Perhaps just as important is the redrawing of congressional and legislative districts for the upcoming decade. Those districts must be revised every 10 years following the Census, and Republicans will have the chance to guide redistricting committees through the process for the first time in modern state history.

Also important to Republicans is Court of Appeals Judge Barbara Jackson's lead over Democratic Court of Appeals Judge Bob Hunter for the N.C. Supreme Court seat held by outgoing justice Ed Brady. Although these seats are nonpartisan, it's no secret that Jackson is a Republican, as is Brady. And her election would not only preserve a 4-3 Republican-Democrat split on the court, it will also give the N.C. court a majority of female justices. It's foolish to predict how justices will vote based on their political party, but it will comfort Republicans in redistricting lawsuits that the numbers at least appear to be on their side.

Democrats no doubt will now have second thoughts about their refusal to go along with Republican proposals in past years to create a nonpartisan commission to study demographic changes and draft new districts for the state's 13 congressional districts and 170 legislative districts. It will be another decade before districts could be redrawn, and Democrats will have time to ponder their lost opportunities - apparently from the back bench.



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, MSNBC, WCNC, WRAL, Google Maps

N.C. GOP Prepares For Senate Takeover; Health Care Repeal

N.C. Senate Changes Again; GOP Has New Issue


The decision of nine-term state Sen. Charlie Albertson, D-Duplin, to step down after this term ends continues the march of Democrats out of the legislature -- and adds to the speculation that Republicans will capture a number of Democratic seats and take over the Senate next year.

In fact, Tuesday Republicans announced plans to push legislation that would exempt North Carolina from any federal requirement that every resident be required to purchase health care of pay a penalty. The bill likely won't pass in the coming short session, but it certainly would give Republican candidates a hot-button issue to campaign on this year.

Republican leaders say they see their proposal as a positive initiative because they hear from so many people who don't like the health reform bill moving through the U.S. Senate.

Albertson, who also served four years in the House before moving to the Senate, is a popular county and gospel music singer with a flowing beard and an easy way with people. Lately he also has been a Senate appropriations committee chair and principal budget writer. At 78, he says he's exhausted. He joins four other Senate Democrats who won't run again, including Sen. David Hoyle of Gaston County, R.C. Soles, the dean of the Senate and longest-serving legislator, of Columbus County(who has been indicted by a grand jury for shooting an intruder at his home), and Julia Bozeman, D-New Hanover. Already resigned from the Senate are former Majority Leader Tony Rand, D-Cumberland, and David Weinstein, D-Robeson.

The decision of these six Eastern N.C. Democrats to leave changes the power structure of the state Senate dramatically. It robs Senate President Pro Tem Marc Basnight of veteran lawmakers from the East and furthers a shift of power from the East to the West, where Democratic Sen. Martin Nesbitt of Buncombe County will become the new majority leader. And it creates four vacancies to be filled by voters this fall and two other seats (Rand's and Weinstein's) where the Democratic incumbents will not have an established record of winning their districts. Republicans are enthusiastic about the possibility of winning six seats this fall and changing the Senate from a 30 to 20 advantage for Democrats to at least 26-24 in favor of Republicans.

Another departure will be Sen. Eddie Goodall, R-Union, who is not running again, but whose seat is regarded as a safe one for the GOP.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, House Republican leader Skip Stam, R-Wake and State Republican Party Chairman Tom Fetzer announced plans Tuesday to file legislation in the short session (and next year, if the first try fails) that would exempt North Carolina from any federal requirement that residents purchase health insurance. Here's part of a press release the GOP put out:

"Raleigh, N.C. — The Republican leaders of the State Senate and House were joined by the Chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party today promising to fight the federal take-over of healthcare and protect an individual’s right to make decisions about their own health coverage. The Republican leadership promised a legislative initiative called the Health Care Protection Act (HCPA).

“Republicans will not stand idly by and watch as citizens' rights to make their own health care decisions are taken from them by the federal government,” said Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger (R-Rockingham), “The people of North Carolina are overwhelmingly opposed to this blatant abuse of power. We are proud to be their legislative voice by putting forth this common sense initiative.”

"House Republican Leader Paul Stam (R-Wake) said the initiative should be supported by Democrats and Republicans alike. “This should not be about partisan politics; it should be about the individual freedom of our citizens." Stam noted that either a general statue or a constitutional amendment will be presented during the short session in May. If the Democratic majority blocks the initiative, it will be submitted again the first week of next year’s session, when he believes Republicans will hold a majority."

I don't doubt that the Republican are serious about trying to exempt North Carolina from any federal law requiring the purchase of health insurance, though I think it would have a long and hard court fight ahead of it. But regardless of whether such a law would stand up to legal scrutiny, you have to admit it would make a mighty good campaign issue to energize the Republican Party's base and encourage support for Republican candidates this fall.

The issue might help Republicans gain control of the Senate and also take over the House, where Democrats have a 68-52 edge. If Republicans can pick up a net of nine seats, they'd have enough for a 61-59 majority.



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Sources: McClatchy Newspapers, Charlotte Observer, Newsobserver, NC G.O.P., Facebook, Youtube, Google Maps