This Is A Republican, Part 5: Pat McCrory

Pat McCrory, Governor of North Carolina, has announced that he will sign into law a Republican-backed bill making sweeping changes to how and when North Carolinians can vote. McCrory praised the bill at a press conference, saying it will restore faith in elections by requiring voters to present government-issued identification at the polls.

But he hasn’t seen one of the bill’s key provisions.

An Associated Press reporter asked the Republican governor how three particular provisions of the bill — ending same-day voter registration, trimming the period for early voting by a week and eliminating a program that encourages high school students to register to vote in advance of their 18th birthdays — would help prevent voter fraud.

And McCrory answered by talking about two other sections of the legislation: a measure that directs counties to make early voting available for more hours during the abbreviated early voting period and a provision forbidding lobbyists from passing campaign donations from their clients directly on to lawmakers.

McCrory was then asked again about the three provisions and how they would prevent voter fraud, and he responded by saying he had long been concerned about same-day registration, which allows voters to cast a ballot immediately after presenting elections officials with proof of their name and home address.

McCrory was then asked specifically about the provision ending pre-registration by those under 18 and said, "I don't know enough, I'm sorry, I haven't seen that part of the bill."

The bill he’d just said he would sign; hasn’t read it, doesn’t know some key provisions, but, hey, it’s gonna get some ink from him.

Pat McCrory. Seriously, North Carolina? Seriously? You’ve got a governor passing bills he hasn’t even read.

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