Many of you who voted against Amendment One are rightfully upset of the outcome. As we all know, democracy has its winners and its losers; we can't all get what we want.

However, the beauty of living in a democracy is that nothing is ever set in stone. Citizens have an outstanding ability to make fundamental changes in policy. In other words, to all of you disappointed North Carolinians, you have an opportunity to organize, energize, and educate the public about the issue that you are so passionate about.

I'm not devoting this post to discuss Amendment One. What I am going to do is discuss how those disappointed in its outcome are disappointing me by not taking pride in being a Tar Heel.

When I flipped through my news feed on Facebook after the election results, I read countless status updates from North Carolinians that I found disgraceful. I want to just share a few of those:

"I have never been ashamed of the state I call home until today."

"NC is making my personal conflict about staying here or moving North after I have finished school much easier."

"I'm sad to say that I'm ashamed of where I'm from, where I am."

"Can't wait to move out of North Carolina. Such close minded rednecks"

"Well, at least I'm moving back to a free state next year. If I were a North Carolinian, I would be embarrassed."

I'm proud to be from North Carolina no matter what. I've never been to another state where I feel so much of an attachment to the people, places, and things like I do in North Carolina. Where else can you drive on a country road and the driver in the opposite lane waves even though you're a complete stranger? Where else can you enjoy the mountains, cities, and beaches? Where else can you eat barbeque (a noun, not a verb) and wash it down with sweet tea or, better yet, Cheerwine?

There's no question why so many people are moving to the Old North State and why so many people want to stay here.

But to those who posted statuses like the ones above, think about this before you make the misguided decision to leave or criticize your home state:

The term "Tar Heel state" is derived from the Civil War. North Carolina troops outnumbered those of other Confederate states in terms of enlistment and deaths. Although we reluctantly decided to fight for the Confederate cause, we did so at a high price.

The North Carolina troops were resilient in battle. Despite being outnumbered by Union forces, the North Carolina troops held their ground as if they had tar on their heels. In response, General Robert E. Lee proclaimed, "God bless the Tar Heel boys."

True Tar Heels never give up. They never stop fighting.

This is the message that the opposition to Amendment One need to utilize. Despite losing and despite being outnumbered, never quit and never run away from your beliefs.

If you love North Carolina, fight for it. Prove how much you love it.

I travel a lot across the state. The only counties that I noticed any significant opposition to Amendment One was in major counties (i.e. Wake, Durham, Orange, Forsyth, etc.). If the opposition wanted to win, believed strongly in the cause, they should have worked harder and reached out to other areas. They should have had a grassroots movement in all 100 counties educating the voters on the impact of Amendment One. They failed to do so.

In Stokes County, a very social conservative area, I saw one "Vote No" sign. Why? I guess it's because the opposition didn't take the time to campaign in Stokes County. They didn't feel it was worth their time or effort campaigning in a county they thought was a place for "close minded rednecks." You know what happens when you ass-u-me.

Every voter is important in an election.

The opposition relied too much on college students in the state when they should have expanded their reach. They should have reached out to voters in places like Stokes County.

Here's a couple more status posts I saw:

"If you voted for it (Amendment One), you should be ashamed of yourself"

"Death to my hometown."

Everyone has their opinions on same sex marriage. No one necessarily has a right or wrong answer. To some, preserving traditional marriage is important to them. They have strong convictions that span across religions. There's nothing wrong with that. On the other side, there are those that want equal rights and don't care if two males or two females marry as long as they're happy. There's nothing wrong with that.

What is wrong is for the two sides to openly criticize the character and morals of individuals of the opposing viewpoint. That's not what we do in America. We all have conflicting opinions; that's what makes America the great melting pot. But we don't openly criticize individuals based on their convictions just because we don't see eye to eye.  

I hope by reading these Facebook posts, you can understand my frustration. 

Some on my news feed did have respectful comments to make about Amendment One's ratification. Although they were disappointed in the outcome, they didn't go to the extremes like the above did. Some used rational reasoning and some began posting about repealing Amendment One. More power to them.  

In a democracy like ours, time causes opinions to change. Just look at the Edenton Tea Party in 1774. As one of the first organized women's political actions, fifty-one women stood in opposition to "taxation without representation" after decades supporting the British crown. Despite the social setback of being a minority in the 18th century, women organized and fought for a cause they felt was right; a cause bigger than self.

Tar Heels fight for the causes they believe in.

To the opposition of Amendment One, if you believe in your cause, you will fight for it. To the supporters of Amendment One, you will fight to preserve it. To both sides, be open-minded and listen to your neighbors' opinions.

I'm unequivocally proud to be a Tar Heel. You should be, too.

On Tuesday, I did my civic duty and cast my ballot early for the 2012 Primary. I showed up at my local public library and stood in line for roughly five minutes before I made it to a volunteer poll worker. As many of you realize, the people that volunteer for these types of things are retirees, typically over the age of seventy. This so happened to be the case for my early voting experience.

The retiree/volunteer had a laptop to checkoff voters. Now I don't know about your families, but my parents and grandmothers barely know what a computer is, nonetheless how to successfully use one. 

Be that as it may, the poll worker asked for my name, address, and birth date. Under current North Carolina law, poll workers do not need to see photo identification before giving a ballot to a voter. This needs to be changed and here's why:

There are two registered voters in Stokes County blessed with the name, Kyle Hall. One is me, Kyle E. Hall, the other is Kyle D. Hall, another registered Republican.  

The poll worker printed off a sheet for me to sign verifying my information. 

It's a good thing I read it because I was getting ready to cast a ballot for Kyle D. Hall.

After I raised a fuss about it, the poll worker printed off a new form with my information. Who knows whether or not Kyle D. Hall can vote now or not. The computer system is going to show that Kyle D. Hall already voted. What if he shows up on Election Day, tries to vote, but can't because the system shows he has already voted? Who knows whether or not the poll worker went back into the system and cancelled Kyle D. Hall's vote? 

This problem could have been avoided had I been required to show a photo ID.

The poll worker could have read my information instead of me reciting it to her. She could have looked at my photo ID and seen that it was in fact Kyle E. Hall standing before her asking for a ballot.

However, opponents claim that voter ID laws are discriminatory and would impose an unfair barrier to those who less likely have photo IDs, including the poor and elderly. 

I don't buy it. 

In today's world, you need photo ID for everything! At my job at Barnes and Noble, we are required to see photo ID when a customer uses a personal check AND when he/she uses a credit card. That's not discriminatory, that's just to make sure that he/she is the cardholder. It's called good business. 

If you visit the State Capitol in Raleigh, you need a photo ID. If you travel by air, you need a photo ID. If you go to a UNC basketball game, you need a photo ID. If you purchase alcohol, you need a photo ID. 

I'm sure individuals in North Carolina have photo IDs to do most of these things, regardless of wealth or age. 

North Carolina has an online voter database. Who's to say that you a crook can't memorize a name, address, and birth date and vote for another person? With voter turnout so low, all the crook has to do is look up someone's voter information and see when he voted last. If it's been a while, most likely that voter isn't going to vote in this election and the voter isn't going to know whether someone has voted for him or not. 

Now I'm not advocating for you to do this. My point is, voter fraud could be happening right now as you're reading this and the voter would have no clue. 

The solution: voter ID. 

If you're reading this, Kyle D. Hall, I'm sorry if you're turned away at the polls because someone has supposedly voted for you already. Just know that this could have been avoided had a) you either lived in a different county or b) our state had enough sense to pass a voter ID law.