South Carolina Voter ID Law On Hold- For Now

 The enforcement of South Carolina’s new Voter ID law, which states that voters must provide an approved form of photo ID in order to vote, has been put on hold by the Department of Justice through the end of the year. According to deputy attorney Robert Cook, the next election cycle is too soon to allow enough time for those voters without an ID to acquire one. As many as 178,000 current voters may be unable to vote if the law is implemented. Further, the DOJ needs to formally approve the law under the Voting Rights Act for it to be valid and enforceable.

Requiring photographic ID to vote has the potential to prevent one form of voter fraud- voter impersonation.  There have been no studies and no other evidence that indicate widespread voter fraud in South Carolina or in general. Furthermore, the Elections Assistance Commission has stated that voter impersonation fraud is the “least frequent type of fraud.”

The ACLU, NAACP, League of Women Voters and others have come out against the Voter ID law claiming it will disenfranchise African American and poor voters, who comprise most of South Carolina’s voters currently without photo ID. The SC Voter Registration card is the only option that is both free and available to everyone, but is not yet available. The South Carolina Election Commission has no plans to order the equipment to allow them to print the free voter IDs unless the law has been cleared by the DOJ, further delaying voters’ ability to prepare for elections. The Voter ID law is one of a number of new laws, including the controversial SB20, that interfere with the rights of ordinary citizens.

Why create a law that potentially disenfranchises many citizens when there is no proof of Voter Fraud in South Carolina? What is this law attempting to prevent? Why is the Election Commission putting off ordering the equipment to produce the free IDs?