Comments by John Murphy | Eastern North Carolina Now

Much of this great country is currently embroiled in the Voter Photo-ID question, an issue that could easily decide the results of a close election. I grew up believing that the United States was founded on certain principles that set it apart from the rest of the nations of the world. In addition to our basic rights, two of these principles stand out above the rest. The first of these tenets i...s that a person accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, and the second is the right of all citizens to vote in free elections.

It has often been said that it is better to let 1,000 guilty parties go free than convict a single innocent person. Using the same premise with regard to elections, isn't it better to allow a dozen voters without IDs to cast ballots than to deny even a single person who is otherwise entitled to vote? If we are to err on this issue it should be on the side of over-inclusion, and not unjust exclusion.

Commented: Sunday, March 18th, 2012 @ 9:43 pm By: John Murphy