It's called by its sponsors An Act to Restore Confidence in Government, but judging by the impassioned opposition from many North Carolinians at a long hearing Tuesday afternoon, the bill has aroused nearly as many opponents as supporters.

That's surely not what state Reps. Ric Killian, R-Mecklenburg, and Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, anticipated when they co-sponsored the bill with Rep. David Lewis, R-Harnett.

Its most controversial feature would require N.C. voters to show photo ID cards when they cast ballots at polling places. The state has about 6.1 million registered voters, and of those perhaps 1.5 million do not have drivers licenses or other photo ID cards. State law does not require voters to prove who they are at polling places, and a number of voters worry that illegal votes are being cast.

If they are, it's a small number, say officials with the State Board of Elections. Judging by the small number of voter fraud cases prosecuted, there's not much of a problem to solve. But Killian hears so many stories about illegal voting that he suspects there are many more cases that are never investigated.

It's our view, based on the experience of this state and voter studies, that there isn't a big problem - and that a photo ID system won't necessarily extinguish the small amount of fraud that exists. Crooks could still get bogus ID cards and vote.

But neither do we believe that a photo ID requirement would have a huge effect stifling voter turnout, though it would have some effect on women and minorities without photo IDs who tend to vote Democratic, which suggests political intent in this case.

The bill would require counties to issue such cards to voters who don't have them. The unanswered question is how much that would cost the state of North Carolina in a severe budgetary pinch when even a few hundred thousand dollars would mean laying off more teachers than children can afford to lose.

That's why the new Republican majority driving this bill must ensure that this bill doesn't diminish public confidence in elections - or make it harder for the elderly, minorities or poor citizens to cast votes at the ballot box.

The bill does have some good things, including making it easier to vote by absentee ballot and making political candidates responsible for paying fines levied for campaign law violations. It also caps the number of terms the State Board of Elections chair can serve at two - probably a good idea. It may cost the board the longtime experience of a veteran chair, but bringing in new leadership with fresh ideas and energy is a positive step.

North Carolina has done much to open up voting to more citizens over the past two decades, making it easier to register to vote, creating more time to vote with the popular early voting sites, and encouraging participation in our democracy. The bill's sponsors, who are working on improvements to the bill, must take care to keep voting accessible - and remember, after all, that a majority of those voters put them in office.