Joe Mavretic's Perspective on Voter ID

Published March 13, 2013

By Joe Mavretic

by Joe Mavretic

There are many reasons why Every American Citizen should have a current photo identification card. This question has been framed as a debate about voting rights but it is actually about identification in our emerging digital century. As we move through the twenty-first century, we will first have a photo ID much like our current North Carolina driver's license. That ID will have embedded some additional information. Next we will have an ID for use within our medical system that has embedded an extraordinary amount of personal and private information. We will have an ID for our financial transactions. We will no longer have to sign for transactions on our ID's as we will use thumb/finger prints on screens or facial recognition. The probable outcome should be one ID that is sufficient for ALL activities.

Any North Carolinian who cannot afford a current photo ID should have access to one without cost. Fighting to keep anyone out of the digital era is akin to keeping them in the backwaters of change.

For the naysayers, consider this: soon every government employee and retiree must have an account where an electronic check can be deposited. The twentieth notion of getting a check in the mail has been preempted by the digital age. Individual, photo, digital identification is not only here to stay, it is the wave of the near future.

Joe Mavretic is former House Speaker and an NC Spin Panelist