Denial of the Fourth Circuit Appeal to the 2013 Reform Law Causes Concern

The denial of the Fourth Circuit appeal to the 2013 Reform Law, also known as the Voter ID Bill, has created some concerns for what voters should expect at the polls in November.

The new regulations block Voter ID and reinstates preregistration, a week of early voting, same-day registration and out-of-precinct provisional voting.

The voter ID requirements that were in effect during the precinct voting will not be in place. Former Chapel Hill Town Council member & General Assembly Legislative Staff member Gerry Cohen said the biggest impact on the voting sites will be the wait times.

“I think the major effect will be to speed up voting. I think we saw in March especially that the process caused a lot of bottle-necks dealing with ID’s. In terms of the process, not having voter ID’s will greatly speed in the voter check-in,” Cohen said.

Since these requirements have been put into place since 2013, the years of planning that the Board of Elections had done for this year’s election are having to be revised.

“2013 Bill had reduced early voting from 17 days to 10 but required the same number of hours at registration. So, the Orange County Board of Elections voted unanimously a plan which now has to be reworked,” Cohen said.

Appeals for a stay to keep the provisions in place until the end of this election continue to come in. Cohen said he’s not convinced there will be any change in the decision even in the United States Supreme Court.

The voter registration deadline is in a couple of short months and Cohen said there are many things you can do to make your voting experience easier, especially when changing your address.

“If you have registered in Orange County but moved, the easiest way to report your change your address is if you have a voter registration card from Orange County, flip it over, there is a change of address form on the back. If you have moved within Orange County and have kept up with that, if not, the second best way to report a change of address is at early voting,” Cohen said.

Voter Registration ends on October 14th.

Cohen said that even though you won’t be required an ID when going to vote, he recommends bringing one if you have it to help the election clerk find your name faster.

State Board of Elections is meeting this week with county boards to discuss new guidelines.