PoliticsSouth CarolinaPoliticssouth-carolina-voter-id-law

South Carolina Voter ID Law Trial Begins As Justice Department Seeks To Block Controversial Measure

Voter ID Battle Rolls Into South Carolina
Reuters
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* State's case is latest in a series

* Challenge posed by U.S. Justice Department

By Drew Singer

WASHINGTON, Aug 26 (Reuters) - South Carolina this week will try to convince a United States federal court its new voter identification law doesn't discriminate against black voters, contrary to a finding by the federal government.

The trial set to begin on Monday in Washington marks the Obama administration's latest attempt to block a wave of laws in Republican-controlled states that require voters to show certain forms of photo ID at the polls.

As in other states to pass such laws, Republicans in South Carolina's legislature said the measure discourages voter fraud. Republican Governor Nikki Haley signed the requirement into law in May of last year.

But in December, the U.S. Department of Justice blocked the law from taking effect, using a power from the 1965 Voting Rights Act that allows the government to veto voting rule changes in states with a history of racial repression.

With a looming U.S. Supreme Court review of the federal government's right to block election changes in some state and local governments, the Obama administration has been selective with which voter ID laws it contests.

The Justice Department did not fight more lax voter ID requirements in states such as Georgia and Virginia, but blocked stricter versions in Texas and South Carolina. Arguments over the Texas law were held in July, and a decision is expected in the near future.

PHOTO IDENTITY CARDS

South Carolina's law requires voters to present one of five forms of photo ID. Voters without those specific forms of ID are 20 percent more likely to be black, according to a Justice Department study.

In a letter, the Justice Department informed South Carolina it was blocking the voter ID law. It said the requirement could impede the voting rights of tens of thousands of people, noting that just over a third of the state's registered minority voters did not have a driver's license. The letter also said there was no evidence of voter fraud in South Carolina. The Justice Department declined further comment.

In February, South Carolina sued the U.S. government to allow its voter ID law to take effect.

For the lawsuit, South Carolina hired all-star lawyer Paul Clement, who argued against the Obama administration's healthcare law before the Supreme Court last term.

"Nothing in this law prevents anyone from voting if they cannot immediately show a valid photo identification," South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson said in a statement.

He argued that it was indistinguishable from an Indiana voter ID law that passed Supreme Court muster in 2008.

Under the South Carolina law, anyone who wants to vote but does not have a photo ID must obtain a new voter registration card that includes a photo. A birth certificate can be used to prove identity.

But the Obama administration says the law is unclear about how the new cards would be distributed, raising concerns that it might be too tough to get a new card in time for the Nov. 6 election.

RULING BEFORE ELECTION

It's unclear when a decision might be reached after the trial, expected to go five days, although one is likely before the election.

Estimates on how many voters are affected by photo ID laws vary widely based on how the studies were conducted.

A study made public in July said new laws in 10 states requiring voters to show photo identification would make it more difficult for millions of Americans to cast ballots and likely would drive down turnout among minorities, the poor and the elderly.

The Brennan Center for Justice at New York University Law School, a liberal group that has supported the Obama administration challenges, said one in 10 Americans lacked the necessary government-issued photo IDs that now are required in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Mississippi, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.

But Republicans say the number of people without photo ID is much smaller and the laws provide for voters without IDs to get them, in some cases free of charge.

The case is State of South Carolina v. United States of America and Eric Holder, Jr. Presiding are U.S. District Judges Brett M. Kavanaugh, John D. Bates and Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. Case No. 1:12-cv-203.

For South Carolina: Paul Clement

For the United States: Catherine Meza (Reporting by Drew Singer; Editing by Howard Goller and Colleen Jenkins; Desking by Vicki Allen)

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Before You Go

7 Ways You Could Be Disenfranchised
Pennsylvania(01 of07)
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You're an average voter in Pennsylvania. The night before Election Day, your wallet goes missing, leaving you without immediate access to any of the identification you'll need to vote at your local precinct the following morning.This would be a problem under Pennsylvania's proposed photo ID law, since blocked by a state judge.While many people in this situation may have backup forms of identification, studies have shown that a significant percentage of would-be voters don't. The state's safeguard against the immediate disenfranchisement of people in this situation would be a provisional ballot cast on the day of the election. But this doesn't mean your vote counts, yet.Anyone who casts a provisional ballot is required to "appear in person at the county board of elections" within six days of the vote to provide proof that their ballot was valid. If you're able to take time away from your job to do this, the process still requires a would-be voter to either show up with valid ID -- a replacement driver's license would cost $36 and considerable time -- or to sign an affirmation that you are indigent and not able to afford the fees associated with acquiring a photo ID.Even if you make a rapid and somewhat expensive turnaround to get a replacement ID -- or alternatively swear under oath that you are too poor to pay for such a document -- there is no guarantee that your vote will end up counting. Many elections are largely decided before provisional voters have a chance to verify their validity, which could serve to discouraging them from following up with election officials or leave them effectively disenfranchised.In 2008, only 61.8 percent of all provisional ballots cast were fully counted. If strict photo ID measures were implemented, however, the number of provisional ballots submitted would likely increase, as would the requirements for voters hoping to make them count.(Photo: AP)
Georgia(02 of07)
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Eleven percent of eligible voters say they lack current government-issued photo IDs, a survey on the potential impact of voter ID laws found. You live in Georgia and you're one of them. Like 66,515 other Georgians, according to a recent study from the Brennan Center for Justice, you also lack vehicle access and live more than 10 miles from an office that issues state ID.As a registered voter who's skipped the past few elections, you decide you'll vote this year. But you spend your life working multiple jobs to provide for your family, not tuned in to a news cycle that may have told you about a voter ID law that changed the requirements.If you were aware of the measure, you'd know that you have to get yourself to a state office during business hours to procure a photo ID in order to vote. According to the Brennan Center, these facilities are often only open part time, especially in areas with the highest concentration of people of color and in poverty. While the state does offer a free photo ID initiative, the Brennan Center points out that many of the offices provide confusing or inaccurate information about what Georgians need to do to get one.This may be a tough task as you juggle a strenuous work schedule with other commitments -- and that's assuming you're aware of the requirement. But you're not, so you head to your voting precinct on election day with no access to an acceptable form of identification and vote with a provisional ballot. To verify that ballot, you'll have two days to present appropriate photo ID at your county registrar's office, which at this point wouldn't be doable.(Photo: AP)
Tennessee(03 of07)
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As an elderly Tennessee resident, you've made a decades-long Election Day habit of traveling to your local polling place and exercising your franchise.It's an important day for you, and it gives you the rare opportunity to leave your house, where you live alone.For a number of years, you've had an identification card that allows you to vote. But thanks to the state's strict new voter ID law, that document will no longer be sufficient.Reports found that 230,000 Tennesseans older than 60 possess driver's licenses that don't have photos on them. Such ID will not be accepted at polling places in November. While the state has agreed to issue photo IDs free to anyone who asks, a recent study found that only a tiny percentage of potential targets have applied.Perhaps that's because people like you weren't aware of exactly how the change was going to affect them. Maybe you weren't even aware of the change. Poll workers tell you that you can cast a provisional ballot on Election Day. You'll have until "the close of business on the second business day after the election" to find an applicable piece of identification -- which you don't have -- and present it to a designated elections official. Whether it's your lack of an acceptable form of identification, the difficulty in finding transportation back to the elections official, or the prospect of having to go through the drain of the entire process again, you're discouraged, and give up.(Photo: AP)
Kansas(04 of07)
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You're a resident of Kansas in your early 60s, fully expecting to vote in November. Your driver's license is your primary form of ID, but you rarely carry it anymore. You don't drive and you haven't traveled abroad in years, leaving your passport expired or lost. In the months before the election, you changed addresses, and for some reason never received a notification from the state reminding you that your license had expired.On the day of the election, you head to your polling place, unaware that you're about to be told your license is expired and therefore invalid according to the state's new voter ID law (Kansans over the age of 65 can use expired IDs, but you're not there yet). You're given a provisional ballot and informed that you must now "provide a valid form of identification to the county election officer in person or provide a copy by mail or electronic means before the meeting of the county board of canvassers."While Kansas says it has historically counted around 70 percent of its provisional ballots, this year provides a different landscape. The next steps can be somewhat difficult, and with the enacting of the state's photo ID law, the use of such ballots will undoubtedly become more commonplace.Faced with disenfranchisement, you must now race against the clock to have your vote included. With no other acceptable forms of ID available, you go about the process of renewing your license. According to the state, this requires you to make your way to a state office, where you'll have to provide a number of identifying documents and pay the fee.By the time you can find someone to chauffeur you through this process -- public transportation is complex and unreliable where you live, even if you're in an urban center -- most of the major election results have been announced on the news. You decide the undertaking isn't worth the time.(Photo: AP)
Indiana(05 of07)
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You're a first-time voter in Indiana who registered to vote at the Bureau of Motor Vehicles using your Social Security number, a process that also required you to get a state identification card, which you placed in your wallet.As a recent high school graduate who commutes with other workers to your full time job on a farm, you rarely need to present identification, so you didn't even bother to get a new ID card when it went missing from your locker a few weeks before the election.You risk potential firing when you travel to your polling place with other members of your community on voting day, but you're intent on participating in your first election. Without valid photo ID, however, you don't get to pull the lever. Under Indiana's new photo ID law, you're instead required to fill out a provisional ballot. But you're told you'll still need to jump through additional hoops that could prove too demanding. Now tasked with making visits during business hours to both the Indiana BMV to get a replacement ID, and then to the county elections board to verify your ballot, you decide keeping your job is more important than voting.(Photo: AP)
Pennsylvania, Part II(06 of07)
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Viviette Applewhite was the lead plaintiff in a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Pennsylvania's new voter ID measure. She's a 93-year-old great-great grandmother who has voted regularly for decades. She claimed she didn't have access to any of the documents she'd need to vote. With no driver's license and no birth certificate, needed to get a photo ID, Applewhite said she'd be disenfranchised by the law.And she wasn't the only one. A number of other plantiffs in the ACLU case against Pennsylvania's photo ID law claimed they had been unsuccessful in attempts to get copies of their birth certificates and other papers due to complexities in the state's record-keeping. Most claimed the measure would take away their vote. The law has since been blocked for this election cycle. (credit:ACLU)
Georgia, Part II(07 of07)
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You're a longtime resident of Georgia, but you've just recently returned home from a six-month out-of-town assignment from your job. You get into town on the Monday before Election Day. Most of your possessions are still being shipped from halfway across the country. Old friends invite you to a bar to catch up, but in the process of removing your driver's license from your wallet to present to a bouncer, it cracks in half, leaving it officially invalidated.Without a valid license, you won't be able to cast a ballot the next day. You'd renew it and choke down the $20 or more fee for the replacement, but the documents you need to present are in the moving truck.An election official informs you that you can fill out a provision ballot on Election Day. To verify that ballot, you'll have two days afterward to present appropriate photo ID at your county registrar's office.Either you're telling the moving company to drive twice the speed limit for the next 48 hours straight, or you're accepting your disenfranchisement.(Photo: AP)
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