What event might sway the Democrats to vote for the override?
Could information recently disseminated by the North Carolinians for Immigration Reform and Enforcement (NCFIRE) be the tipping point and persuasive factor for conservative Democrat legislators?   The following is information from the North Carolina Federation of Republican Women and NCFIRE about the Mexican Consulate General.

Recent promotions said that the consulate would be in Greenville to sell “Mexican passports and matricula consular identification cards and birth registration for children born in the United States and voter registration will be among the activities offered.”  (Go to www.ncfire.info for more information.)

This is not the first event of its kind in North Carolina.  Last year the Mexican Consulate issued Mexican passports and the matricula consular identification cards in Raleigh and Shallott.  The matricula consular card is an identification card issued by the Mexican government through its consulates to Mexican nationals living outside of Mexico.  Some states recognize the card as an identification card. In North Carolina, the “Matricula Consular [card] issued by the Mexican Consulate for North Carolina” is recognized as a “proof of residency,” for obtaining a driver’s license, according to the NC Department of Transportation’s website.

On Mar 30, 2011, the House passed the “Consular Documents Not Acceptable as Identification” (HB33), in a vote of 66 to 50 with 1 not voting and 3 excused absences.  Democrat Representative Tim Spear (Chowan, Dare, Hyde, Washington) was the only Democrat to vote with the Republicans in passing the bill which was co-sponsored by Representative George Cleveland (R-Onslow) and Representative Mike Hager (R-Rutherfordton).

Representative Cleveland said, “The Matricula Consular is in reality not worth the paper or plastic it’s made out of,” and that the cards were Mexico’s “way to legitimatize their nationals living north of the border.” (Americans for Legal Immigration – for more information go to www.alipac.us.)

The bill was sent to the Senate on March 31, 2011.  On April 4th it passed the first reading but was referred to the Committee on Rules and Operations of the Senate.

The bill states that “(a) The matricula consular or other similar document issued by a consulate or embassy of another country shall not be acceptable for use in determining a person’s actual identity or residency by a justice, judge, clerk, magistrate, law enforcement officer, or other government official.”

Also that “(b) No local government may establish, by policy or ordinance, the acceptability of the matricula consular or other similar document issued by a consulate or embassy of another country as a form of identification to be used to determine the identity or residency of any person. Any local government policy or ordinance that contradicts this section is hereby repealed.”

Because the bill is still in the Senate’s Committee on Rules and Operations, North Carolina laws have not been changed to repeal the acceptability of the matricula consular card in NC.  Voting requirements in the state only require that “a person must sign a voter declaration attesting that they are a “U.S. Citizen.”  The person does not have to present evidence of citizenship to register to vote.

Democrats tell us that voting fraud does not exist in North Carolina, and there is no need for the Voter Photo ID bill. This position directly contradicts first-hand knowledge of voter fraud presented in public comments at the Voter Photo ID committee meeting earlier this year in Raleigh.

A recent Charlotte Observer article by Pat McCrory cites a comment from the Commission on Federal Election Reform, “headed by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker,” in 2005 that states: “The electoral system cannot inspire public confidence if no safeguards exist to deter or detect fraud or to confirm the identity of voters.  Photo IDs currently are needed to board a plane, enter federal buildings and cash a check. Voting is equally important.”
McCrory concluded his article stating, “North Carolina will have some very close and hotly contested races in 2012, including local races, congressional races, the governor’s race, and the presidential race. The U.S. Supreme Court has noted that voter ID protects the integrity and reliability of the electoral process. Don’t we deserve that in North Carolina?”

Source: NC Federation of Republican Women
OUR work is not complete – we must continue our efforts to pass the Voter Photo ID bill (HB351) and Consular Documents Not Acceptable as Identification (HB33) in the North Carolina General Assembly.   Stay tuned, but in the meantime write letters to the editor and to all our state House of Representatives (www.ncleg.net) and tell them that we must restore confidence in government – and let’s start with elections.   Let’s raise a raucous!  Pass it on!

Best,

Cathy Wright, Chair