House Sends Hunting Amendment to Voters, Voter ID to Senate | Eastern North Carolina Now

    Publisher's note: The author of this post is Will Rierson, who is a contributor for the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

    The General Assembly Monday night sent its first constitutional amendment to the state's voters, and is close to passing several more.

    The final version of Senate Bill 677, which would enshrine the right to hunt and fish, passed the House 92-23, and the Senate 41-6. It will appear on the ballot in November.

    House Bill 1092, which would require photo identification to vote in person, passed the House 74-43 late Tuesday morning.

    The bills passed with mostly Republican support. Some Democrats said the constitutional amendments were unnecessary during hours of debate in the legislative chambers.

Voter ID

    The voter ID debate lasted for hours Monday evening and carried over into Tuesday's session.

    Rep. Carl Ford, R-Rowan, said he had personally witnessed voter fraud at the polls in his county, and recounted other examples constituents had shared with him.

    "Voter fraud is happening in this state, and I honestly don't know what the problem of having a photo ID is," Ford said. "Honestly, I do not."

    Rep. Amos Quick, D-Guilford, criticized the Republican refrain that photo ID is needed to buy medicine, and therefore should be needed to vote. He said that as a pastor, he had helped people without ID cards who couldn't buy medicine for themselves.

    "If they don't have an ID to go and do the basic things of life, we should not put a barrier up for those people on the fringes of society, or those who are barely getting by, to make a choice on who represents them," Quick said. "Elections are sometimes decided by the slimmest of margins, and every American ought to have the right to have a say in who represents them."

    Rep. Joe John, D-Wake, a former state Court of Appeals judge, attempted to add an amendment which would establish a nonpartisan redistricting committee, but his amendment was ruled out of order.

    The General Assembly previously passed a law requiring voter ID, though it was struck down by federal courts.

    House Rules Chairman Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett, said, if the amendment passed, the legislature would address minority concerns when it writes the laws enforcing voter ID. He said he looked forward to making sure that all voters could participate in elections.

    The amendment is now before the Senate. It must get the support of at least 30 senators to appear on the Nov. 6 ballot.

Hunting and fishing

    Rep. Pricey Harrison, D-Guilford, opposed the hunting and fishing amendment on environmental grounds. She attempted to amend the bill to exclude hunting methods she called unethical, but her amendment failed.

    Rep. Marcia Morey, D-Durham, suggested the amendment was frivolous.

    "These rights aren't under attack. Constitutional amendments are sacred. They're the foundation of our law. Are we starting to legislate by constitutional amendments? I say we're wrong to be governing by amendments that affect our constitution."

    Republicans fired back with arguments that hunting and fishing was a God-given right and part of the state's heritage. Rep. Bert Jones, R-Rockingham, said that although the amendment would be placed in the constitution by a vote of the people, the rights listed within it were not made up by mortals.

    "Unless the state is your god, amendments are not sacred," Jones said. "Whoever gives you your rights can also take your rights away. I would say that our rights - and I would agree with the founders that wrote the Declaration of Independence - our rights come from God."

    In the senate, Democrats were concerned that limits on Sunday hunting could be challenged and overturned in court if the amendment became law. The bill's sponsor, Sen. Norm Sanderson, R-Pamlico, said he understood from legislative staff that the bill would not endanger those restrictions. Sen. Mike Woodard, D-Durham, said staff told him the opposite was true.

    A recent Civitas poll suggests 69 percent of voters would support the voter ID amendment, while 72 percent would support the right to hunt and fish amendment.

    The General Assembly is considering at least four other amendments.