Tuesday, May 6, was primary election day here in North Carolina, as it was in several other states.

This was the first election in North Carolina in which new laws enacted by the state legislature, both houses are controlled by Republicans, were in effect.

The law reduced the number of days for early voting, but the number of hours remain the same, as hours for voting will be longer some days and an additional Saturday has been added.

Photo ID won’t be mandatory until elections in 2016.

The photo ID requirement has drawn protests across the state, including from the NAACP, progressives, professors, media, inside and outside the state, and others.

However, one voting procedure wasn’t changed – it was hardly mentioned leading up to the"reform" legislation, but is arguably more important than any reforms in the legislation – and so the question remains as to how many illegal immigrants voted this latest election cycle, on Tuesday, in early voting and by absentee voting.

Left intact is a provision that prohibits poll workers from asking whether a voter is a United States citizen. The only time the question of citizenship arises is when a person registers to vote.

Near the top of the voter registration application are two boxes with instructions to check one in answer to the question: “Are you a citizen of the United States of America?”

Below the boxes are the following instructions: “If you checked ‘No’ in response to this question, do not submit this form.”

Then, at the bottom of the application is a place for applicant’s signature. It is below a statement that includes this phrase: “I attest, under penalty of perjury, that in addition to having read and understood the contents of this form, that I am a United States citizen, as indicated above… .”

If one is to believe news reports during the debate over the “reform,” and after it was enacted, whether a person seeking voter privileges is a U.S. citizen didn’t much matter to lawmakers, be they Democrat or Republican.

The reason most often put forth by supporters of the legislation as to why the matter of citizenship wasn’t important was that there was no proof that illegals vote.

How they would know remains a mystery.

Local elections boards follow the guideline that, unless someone charges that certain voters are not citizens, and has evidence to back up the claim, no investigation is called for.

Apparently no one has complained, least of all politicians.

Members of both parties in general are tripping over themselves in their eagerness to get votes anywhere they can be found, including those persons who owe their allegiance to, and send much of their money to, foreign countries.

No one really knows, but it seems that North Carolina has the largest percentage of Latinos living here, many, if not most, who are not United States citizens.

That is because North Carolina is, and has been for some time, an illegal immigrant-friendly state, including the way votes are counted.

Several years ago the state’s attorney general issued instructions to the state Department of Motor Vehicles that should a person want a driver’s license, but has no valid identification document, then a DMV employee must promptly type up one for the individual, one that could be used to gather up more identification documents.

Although one surly opponent of the attorney general claimed that the move helped nearly half a million non-citizens vote, the people of North Carolina apparently had no problem with that, even if true. The good lawyer went on to serve two terms as governor, earning rave reviews, from North Carolina all the way through Central and South America and beyond.

The list of those who don’t want immigration laws enforced is much longer than President Barack Obama and his administration.

L.E. Brown, Jr. is an independent writer, based in Magnolia, N.C. Contact him via [email protected]