To the Editor:

Perhaps, like the caller whose comment was included in the March 19 Sound Off column, the writer of the letter published March 22 believes that voting is a “privilege of this country.” It is not. It is a right.

And because voting is a right, the government is obligated to make voting more, not less, accessible to citizens.

A century of Democratic leadership in our state has provided North Carolina voters with progressive elections legislation designed to increase access to voting. It is easier in this state than in many for the elderly, the disabled, the poor, and those who are away at school to make their voices heard through the elections process.

The letter writer took the position that, since “most” businesses require a photo ID, it is acceptable for our state to demand that all citizens produce a photo ID in order to vote.

If our government predicated its policies on what is all right for “most” Americans, then there would be no need for curbside voting; after all, “most” people can get out of their cars and go inside their polling place. “Most” people aren’t disabled, so why require all polling sites to be handicapped accessible? “Most” people can make it to the polls on Election Day, so why bother with absentee balloting and early voting? We do, because we believe in supporting, not obstructing, voter access to the elections process.

If our state had a problem with felony voter impersonation, the situation would be different. However, we don’t.

But that hasn’t stopped Republican politicians from filling gullible people’s heads full of malarkey about “dead people voting” in Washington County and “non-citizens registering to vote” in the last election and how we need to “restore confidence in the voting process.”

The number of “dead people” who voted in Washington County in the last election is exactly zero; the N.C. State Board of Elections is checking the citizenship of voters suspected by someone of being ineligible to vote and has yet to find a non-citizen in the bunch.

Although this effort is clearly a “solution” in search of a problem that does not exist, the writer asserted that “there is no sound reason why we should not pass this bill.” The obvious point is, there is no sound reason for passing the bill. It forces an unnecessary burden on voters, places unwarranted barriers between citizens and the voting booth, and will cost our state an estimated $20 million to implement.

At a time when our state is faced with a serious budget shortfall and in need of inspired legislative leadership, it is interesting that as soon as all those newly-elected, alleged fiscal conservatives got to Raleigh, they immediately started thinking up inane ways to waste money.

ANN CHERRY

Washington