North Carolina House leaders say the process to create a bill requiring photo identification for citizens to vote will be slow so lawmakers can receive public input about what such a mandate should look like.
Speaker Thom Tillis said Tuesday at a news conference that Republicans will take a "deliberative, responsible and interactive approach" before passing a yet-written bill in his chamber sometime next month. Tillis says, "I think it's pretty clear that the majority, nearly three fourths of North Carolinians believe that some form of id is an appropriate requirement before they vote."
A public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, March 12th in room 643 of the legislative office building in Raleigh where the public can weigh in on the issue.
After that, the legislation, that would require all citizens to show a photo identification card when voting, will be presented sometime after March 25th.
Calvin Henderson with the Pitt County NAACP says, "Any effort to present a voting, a voter ID bill that would in any way disenfranchise the votes of African Americans or the elderly and Latinos or any minority voters throughout this area, we would stand against it."
Democratic Governor Beverly Perdue vetoed photo id in 2011. Current GOP Governor Pat McCrory supports the idea.
