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Midterm elections this year were bigger than ever before! Numbers at the polls doubled after two years of having Trump in office. People finally grasped the importance of voting.
A big thing on the ballot were the amendments in which most were saying to vote against them all. Out of the 6 amendments to vote of, 4 were approved. Voters were in favor of requiring NC voters to show an ID in upcoming elections, adding more rights for crime victims, an income-tax cap and protection for hunting and fishing.
North Carolina now joins the few states that require their residents to show an ID to cast a vote during elections. No details have been created yet for what type of ID would be accepted and what would not, but one thing is clear, we will now be require to show an ID.
The new Marsy’s Law now expands the rights for crime victims that already exist in the constitution, allowing victims to now be notified of court proceedings, rights to appear/speak at proceeding, and gives them the option to be notified when the accusers is out of jail.
As for the income-tax cap, this amendment would lower the limit of what the government could set as an income tax rate. The maximum income tax rate is currently 10%. The change now lowers the maximum to 7%. Right now we’re at 5.49%. Some say it would help in the future from the government being able to raise income-tax rates too high, if it ever came to it. Other say the this would directly affect the middle class. We are one of the few states that prioritizes tax cuts over restoring education funding ever since the 2009 when the recession ended.
According to Governing, “North Carolina’s lowered rate cap comes on the heels of the state’s 2013 tax reform, which switched the state to a flat tax from a progressive tax structure with lower-earning taxpayers paying a 6 percent rate and top earners paying 7.75 percent. With the switch to a flat tax, wealthier earners saw a far greater tax break than low-income earners.”
Written by Clarke Jones