SC Democrat's Objection to Voter ID Law

8/4/2019 SC Democrat's Objection to Voter ID Law

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I response to this increased voter particTation by African Americans and the well knownraially polarized voting in South Carolina the overwhelmingly white Republican leadership inte eneral Assembl/ pused and passed a bill requiring in-person voters not only have to showa valid and crrent photo identication but also have their face compared to the photo everytie they vote in person.

Te bencmark for inperson voting is a valid form of identification and a comparison ofsinatures only The signature comparison can be done using a non-picture identification, such ast voters registration card and te voters signature on te poll list

The new burdens onvters rther restricts the acceptable forms of identification and requires one o a very limitednber of government-issued forms of photo identification and the comparison of not only te

sinatures but also te voters ace to te picture on te poto identication ese burdens incontext and under the circumstances, both ave the purpose and will have the efect o abridgingh voting rights of racial minorities in South Carolina These changes unnecessarily burden teundamental voting rights o minority groups.

Te new oter ID lw n South roln the mot retrctve hoto dentcton lw ony tte n the country8 becue o the hghly retrcted orm o ccetble dentcton,

the unnecery ddtonl reurement o every dentcton beng vld nd current, thereful to extend bentee votng to everyone, nd the lure to reerve or rovde l

htcvotorilElctonRportElction Rport 19971998pd at 31 1998 nrallction) S httpouthcarolinaradiontorkcom20100219camakrputtinarlyvotingndrth microcopaudio Th hioriall lar uou o vor or Eltion Da 2008 rultd in lonlin and lon dla at man prcinct acro South Carolina Bor that Elction Da, a numbr ocount votr ritration oic, pciall in th mtropolitan ara, r ampd ith lon lin opron kin to tak advanta o inpron abn von Inad o ampin to a thburdn o lon lin and dla or inpron voin ih an arl votn priod th at Rpublianladr pad th n otr ID la hich ill mak it mor diicult and tak lonr or proprlritrd lctor to vot, ithout an arl votin or othr mitiation or proprl ritrd lctor- Collton Count v McConnll201 F. Supp2d 618, 6404 22 (Th hitor o raciall polardvotin n South Carolina i lon and ll documntd otin in oth Carolina continu to braciall polarid to a vr hih drin all rion o th tat and in both primar lction andnral lction Statid, black citin nrall ar a hihl politicall cohiv roup and hitna in iniicant hitbloc votin Indd, thi act i not rioul in diput"5 2010 S Lilativ Manal hoin thntat rprntativ Tim cott a th onl AricanAmrican, Rpublican lilator in South Carolina) Thr r no Arican-Amrican Rpublican

lctd to th Gnral Ambl hn th n otr ID la pad S Cod Ann 713710 S Cod Ann 7137 (On o h manar hall opar h natur on th poll lt th thnatur on h votr drvr' ln, ritraon noaon, or ohr idntiaon " S NCSL otr Idntiication Rqirmnt httpnclordaultapaid1602)

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safe method o voting or in-person voters to mitigate these new burdens and without

requiring the voter to return days later to deend a provisiona baot.

crmnatory Eect

T highly restrictive photo identification requirements on voting has multiple impacts directedat racial minority voters First, the South Carolina State Election Commission data shows racialmiority voters comprise a disproportionate percentage of those voters lacking stateissuedidtification. Second, African American, Sout Carolinas largest racial minority ave a mhier incidence of poverty and lack of access to transportation, which affects their ability toobtain the acceptable forms of identification Third, African Aericans have a much higherliklihood of suspension of their drivers license, which means they are more likely to lose theirability to vote simply because they do not have insurance or fail to pay traffic fines These areunacceptable burdens on the fundamental right of all properly registered voters to be free fromunrasonable burdens on their right to vote. Additionally the potential use of face-to-photocoparisons and sspensions o driver's licenses or improper votr suppression throughchallenges to voters is more likely given the voting history in South Carolina than anundocumented and nonexistent problem of impersonation of voters during in-person voting.

T Department of Justice produced a Section 5 Recommendation Memorandum dated August25 2005 regarding the eorgia Voter ID law and which was made publicly available. Weresectfully reference the Memorandum and incorporate its analyses and reasons for objecting tote more restrictive and burdensome Sout Carolina Voter ID law. In particular, we wouldpoit out Sout Carolina did not expand absentee voting to anyone who requests an absenteeballot.!! Even no-excuse absentee voting was not sufficient to obviate the retrogressive effect onracial minority voters because, according to national composite data,! "blacks are only hal aslikl as wits to vot by aset aot.! Based on this known data, the new Voter ID law inSouth Carolina targeting only in-person voting may have been pursued wit a discriminatorypurose.

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e would also point out the objection to Submission 9949 discussed on pages 44-4 in theemorandum The circumstances here are similar, and in response to the Attorne eneralsoection, these changes were subsequentl mitigated b an adequate failsafe affidavit forreistered voters and also an expansion of acceptable identifications In South Carolina there ino adequate failsafe for registered voters without photo identification, and there is a highlretrictive group of acceptable identification

"Vid nd Crrent Identition Signicantly Ipacts te oting Rigts o Minorities

Soth Carolina took its highl restrictive forms of acceptable identification another step too farb requiring an photo identification to be both valid and current Valid and current photoidentification is too fickle and uncertain to protect the fundamental right to vote of a properlreistered elector. It is impemissible to ondition a properl registered eletor's right to vote onpaing a traic ticket, obtaining and maintaining automobile insurance, or paing properttaes However, the new Voter ID law creates those conditions b implicating the 68 reasons avoter's drivers liense ma be suspended at an time b the Depatment o Motor Vehiles or boperation of law For this one reason, the Attorne General should object to the new Voter IDla

n a state with the ugl histor of burdening and prohibiting voters on the basis of the color oftheir skin like South Carolina has, this unnecessaril restrictive requirement of a valid andcurrent photo identification appears to have a discriminator purpose of highlighting an eletorsskin color and facial characteristics, rather than preserving minorit voting strength protected in

the benchmark of a signature comparison for properl registered in-person voting.

The discriminator impact on members of a racial minorit group is more easil measurable thanthe discriminator purpose. When socioeconomic factors and age are considered along with

Id at 45 S mal from Am TalHornb of S C Dpartmnt of Motor hl on ul 27 2011 provdnatahmnt nttld Supnon Th Mnort Ladr of th South Carolna Snat mad th rmark for th rord

Th llaton a urrntl rttn ll hav a raall drmnator mpat nth ondut of our futur lton Th onfrn rport trp aa arl votn

provon hh had th potntal to lmnat lon ln at th poll, mak votn morabl for ldrl rdnt and hlp mtat om of th natv mpat of thphoto dntaton rqurmnt h onr' unlnn to nlud ar votnaffrm th valdt of m mvn about th llaton

Unfortunatl, thr ar pron and oranzaton hh k to dlut th votof mnort tzn n our tat th Bll ould furthr that am W t out to buld onth rord turnout n th 2 lton l and no hav ntad ratd" to thvr potv vnt n uh a mannr o a to rvr and/or mpd and dmnh votrpartpaton

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ae, a pictue emeges showing that highly estictive photo identification equiements plae

on votes, paticulaly whee the identification must be valid and cuent, will dispopotionatelyiact minoity, poo, and eldely votes Fo example, non-white egisteed votes ae moethan twice as likely not to have photo identification acceptable unde the oe estctiveeuiements of the new law as a white egisteed vote

The disciminatoy impact inceases damatically with any analysis of the 200 suspensions ofdies licenses by ace. Registeed votes with dives licenses as thei photo identification willnot be able to vote unde the new law fo any of the following easons if they becoephsicaly disqualified to dive, fail to pay popety taxes, acing o acquiescing in acing,diing an uninsued moto vehice, habitual taffic offende, excessive points off you license,deinquent chid suppot, uninsued o failed to sef cetify, chid endangement, failue to show

poof of insuance at the time of stop, dishonoed check, diving with unlawful alcoholconentation, opeating while out of sevice, o faiue to pay taffic ticket Al these easonsae gounds fo suspension of a dives liense, making it no longe valid and cuent Many ofthe 68 easons fo suspension o a dives license ae vey good easons fo suspendingsoeones license, but few, if any, of these easons justify denying the fundamental ight tovotepaticulaly whee the suspension may only be tempoay and possiby unknown to theeleto A popely egisteed electos ight to vote cannot be contingent on financial obligationso a clean diving ecod.

If suspensions of dives icenses in South Caolina wee popotional to popuation by ace ogeate fo whites, then no Section 5 objection would be necessay on this basis alone. Howeve,this is not the case Suspensions o dives licenses occu uch moe fequently with membesof inoity goups than white dives. In fact, even though Afican Ameicans ae less thanonethid of the total population, thee ae a geate numbe of suspensions fo non-whites thanwhites When taking into acount the popotions of the population by ace, non-whites aemuiple times moe likely to have a suspended license than a white dive

unal h na uh CalinaMay 2a amn by nar and" upplmntal ubmiin by Jay mih via mail vt1973c@udjv) n July 192011 at 943 amattachmnt mail labld Pht ID Infmatin fr DOJ ith attachmnt

tRitatinDriv Licnpdf mail fm Amy TalHnby f C Dpamnt f Mt hicl n uly 27, 201 pvidinattachmnt ild upnin9 Calndar Yar 2010 Licn upnin ummay cratd fm upnin by Rac f Prid01/01/20102/31/2010 prvidd by Dpartmnt f Mtr hicl Amy Tal-Hrnby) via mai

n Au 9, 2011 supra, Calndar Yar 2010 Licn upnin (hin nnhit ttal upnin f 36r 7) Th lart ttal fr upnin ar drivin und upnincntrlld ubtancvilatin, cancllatin f inuanc and failur t pay traic tickthich rprnt 160,9 f thttal 243,242 upnin, r 66 In ach f th fur cati f upnin, nnhit upninut numbr hit upnin

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Tereore, o this basis aloe, the Attorey eeral should object to the Voter ID law i South

Crolia because o the kow ad prove discrimiatory impact the requiremet o havig alid ad curret photo idetiicatio will have o miority groups i South Carolia For thedicrimiatory impact o drivers liceses suspesios to be mitigated, a real ail-sae aidait,without reuri a provi

ioal ballot,

woul? be qu

ied

The rce South Carolia ttorey

eeral op o the reasoable mpedmet mtgat adavt would ot permt oterwih suspeded lieses rom assertig they suer ro a reasoable impedimet beause theresos or suspesio are largely withi the cotrol o the oter

tigton i Inucient

Te propoets o the Voter ID law had may examples rom other states o how to mitigate the

dirimiatory eects o racial miority voters. The propoets i South Carolia reused toexed absetee otig to everyoe, like eorgia did, ad ailed to proide a ail-sae method ovig or i-perso voters to mitigate the uecessarily restrictive photo idetiicatioreuiremet ad without requirig the voter to retur days later to deed a provisioal ballotlike Louisiaa did.

Registered voters who lack a birth certiicate or who have iaccurate or icomplete birthirmatio will have to go to court to obtai the legal documet eeded or a state DMVissuedidetiicatio The H.3003 coerece committee deleted laguage requirig the Departmet oHelth ad Evirometal Cotrol, Bureau o Vital Records to provide iormatio veriyigbirth iormatio o residets to the Departmet o Motor Vehicles. The deleted laguageallwed DMV to use the birth data rom DHEC to provide a ree idetiicatio card to those ooig age. The proisio was removed i the ial versio o the legislatio ater DVoiials set lawmakers a letter statig it could ot absorb the cost estimated at more tha $millio beig charged by DHEC to access the birth iormatio Lawmakers kew the cost o

Supplemenal submsson by Jay Smh a emal o1973c@usdojgo) on ug 162011 a 434 amaachmen pd The opnon's analss begns a he op o page 2 wh a msleadng facual premse ha[e smar such prosons enaced n oher saes he Souh arolna egslaon requres oers oproduce a ald and curren phoo ID . .. . Id. (emphass added. or exampe Georga requres properdencaon" ald or properl ssued O.G.. 212417; see also Ind ode 3240.(requrng an dencaon ssued b he Uned Saes or he Sae o Indana ha s no epred; orexpred aer he dae o he mos recen general elecon) Only a few saes requre he denfcaon obe curren and ald bu none o hose saes are as resrce Souh aronas new aw. or exampeOho requres curren and ald phoo denfcaonf a phoo denfcaon s beng usedbu alowsdenfcaon by uly bll and ban saemen also. See NSL Voer Idenfcaon Requremens(p/wncs.odefau.aspxabd=16602). See Secon 4 of 4/611 erson of H3003 See Suppemenal submsson by Jay Smh a emal ([email protected]) on ug. 192011 a 949pm aached emal from Rolf Dolder IT Drecor of SDV led DVDHE ln for brhcerfcaes.

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te information and agreed to pass along the fee, in effect, imposing a poll tax on oters a

disproportionate number of whom are racial minorities

Te refusal of the proponents of these new restrictions to allow additional forms of identificatio(like eorgia, which allows any state or federal goernment picture identification, includingalid employee identification from any federal, state, county, municipality, or goernmentagency) shows a discriminatory purpose may accompany the discriminatory effects Members ofa enforcement use their identification to detain and arrest people but the submitting authorityefuses to allow less restrictie forms of photo identification ithout explanation or posible

stification. The impact on minority oters is obious in a state like South Carolina, where theipact of allowing passports but not law enforcement identification directly affects loer. )4 d cme an moty oters

Prponents may try to point to the affidait of a reasonable impediment to obtaining a photidentification, but tis affidait requires a proisional ballot and that does not mitigate theburdens on the oters Registered oters with a reasonable impediment to obtaining photoidentification must ote proisionally in eery election and would be required to return for thehearing after each election to ensure the ote is counted In addition, this affidait is not a failsae for oting by registered electors i the impediment is not one outside of their controlatleast based on te recent South Carolina Attorney eneral opinion offering his interpretation ofte word "suers in the new Voer 10 law Tereore limited absentee oting and theproisional ballot requirement and the restrictions on its aailability in South Carolina areinadequate to mitigate the discriminatory impact on racial minority oters.

Colleton County v. MConnell 2 upp2d , 42 & n2 (22 (Evidene of the depressedsoioeonomi and eduational status of blaks in the state whih hinders their ability to partiipateffetively in the politial proess and to elet representatives of their hoie was also presented. Inanalyzing this same data whih remains the most reent the mith ourt noted that there s a soo

eonomi gap between the average white itizen and the average blak itizen. There is a largerperentage of blaks than whites below the poverty level; the household inome of blaks s generally ssthan that of whites unemployment is greater among blaks and the level of formal eduation amongblaks is less.... More blaks than whites are without private means of transportation more whites thanbs own their own homes. Inant mortly s greater among bas (nternal quotatons omted See DO] Memorandum dated Aug 25, 2005. See Crawford v. Marion County Eletion Board 553 U.. 18121617 (2008) (outer J) (disussingprovisional ballots as mitigation and onluding ths suggests that provsona balots do not obvate heburdens o getng photo dentation"

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Oer Relevant Factoroncern and Partcpaton by Mnorty Repreentatve27

Th proponent refued to afford the member of raial minority group a meaningfuloortunity to partiipate in the deiion to require voter identifiation by repeatedly invokinglture to limit debate tabling all amendment propoed by AfrianAmerian egilator andnt euring a ingle Afrian-Amerian egilator vote in paing .

Fr example during the eond reading of the firt voter ID bill in South Carolina H34(20-0 Afrian-Aerian legilator in the S. Houe of Repreentative propoed 9andment and all were tabled. In 6 of the otion to table all Afrian-Aerianeiator voted againt tabling the amendment None of the Afrian-Amerian legilatorvtd for or againt H34 a amended on the eond reading exept Republian oueber (now Congreman) Tim Sott.

Th eond reading in the Houe wa when the entire gilative Blak Cauu walked out ofth General Aembly in protet of the paage of the voter ID bill. A new report from theti deribed it thi way

About 30 member of the Lgilative Blak Cauu and other Houe Demorattaged the walkout a debate moved into it fourth hour and it beame lear thebill would pa.

"You'v mad it lar it' your wa or th highway tat p. David Wkhairman of the Lgilative Blak Cauu aid to Houe Republian moment

beore th walkout hr ar many o u who wil not take our wa.' We willtake th highwa.

e e 28 FR 557

ee hpwwwssehosegov/sess118 2009201/h9/2090226hm' ee hp:wwwsehoegov!ses18 2009201hj02009226hm The DO Memorndmded Ags 25 2005 spr on pge reognized h one Arin-Amerin egisor voing or bi does no hnge he onsion on he oher reevn ors or eion 5 review where opposiionby ArinAmerin egisors is overwheming. In oh Croin he one ArinAmerin egisorvoing or he irs version o he bi in prior session does no hnge he unnimos opposiion by h

Lgisive Bk Cs o he new w nd in he Repbin House member ws no hendide o hoie or minoriy voers. ee Coeon Con v. MConne 20 F upp.2d 618 640-41(2002 (n oh Cron, voing h been nd s is, porzed by re This voing pern is genrhroughou he se There is ony one eepon ording o Deendns eper Dr Ruo who hssdied he voing hisory o oh Croin or number o yers He esed Whies mos wysvoe or whies nd bks mos wys voe or bks ness he ndide is bk Repbin ndhn never (nern quoion omied in mih, Voer ID wins ke prov: House Demors wk o in proes," he e (Coumb,) Feb. 27 2009 essed hp:www.reerepbiom os/-news/295258poss


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Aer Deorats ared out o te House amer te ill passed 6 to

"is is learl a aklas agaist (Presidet Oaa said state Rep his HartD-Rilad I oveer's geeral eletio a reord 9 illio voters astallots iludig a ria-Amerias ad oug voters whooverwheligl favored Deorat arak Oaa

Weeks ad . NAAP presidet Loie Radolph said the ill osider legalatio i te ill passes te eate "Its aalogous to litera tests to poll taessaid Radolph who said his father had to iterpret portios of the Mississippiostitutio eore eig alloed to vote deades ago We ko wat tis isaout

O the third readig i the House oe of the Afria-Ameria legislators eept Ti Sottvted for the ill. The ill passed awa ad was set to the Seate Whe the eateretured the ill wit aedets to the House Afria-Ameria legislators proposed 2 ewaedets All their aedets were taled?

Te seod voter ID ill H.3003 201112) hih eae the e Voter ID law did ot havea ore osideratio or partiipatio Ariaeria legislatorseept i aproise ill passed i the Seate see infra, hih as defeated i favor of the Houseverio To aedets ere proposed Afria Aeria legislators o seod readig ithe House ad oth ere taled. The ill passed seod readig ad as ordered for third

reaig without a sigle ria-Ameria vote?

O seod readig i the Seate AfriaAmeria Seators Ford Jakso Mallo MatthewNiolso Pike ad Joh Sott voted for a aedet proposed Seators apse adMoell whih as adopted? The aedet was a oproise of votig ages thatuld have eepted eletors age 6 ad older livig i a hospital or are eter fro theidetifiatio requireets The aedet also addressed earl ad asetee votig. Allseve of the aedets proposed ria-Aeria seators o seod readig were eitherot adopted or withdraw

Altough oe of the AriaAeria seators voted to pass H.3003 it passed 24- ad w

retured to the House of Represetatives with aedets. Durig te Houses reetio of

3 See hpwwwssaehousegov/sss118 2009201Ohj09/20090303hm3 See hp wwwssaehousegov/sess18 2009201hO 201000hm33 See hpwww ssaehousegovhvoehsoryphp?ye=BLL&sesson=119 &bI umb}00 See hpwwwssaehousegovsess119 2011201220110126hm#2835 See hp / wwwssaehousegov sess119 20112012sj 1!20110223hm#366 See hpwwwssaehouse.govsess119 2011-2012s20110224hmp

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th Senate's version o H Arian-Aerican legislators proposed ive amendments and all

wre tabled.

he House then returned H33 with amendments. he Senate moved to nonccur with the House amendments, and it was sent to a conerence committee that adopted thHuse version Ater adoption o the Conerence Report on H33, the bill passed the inal rollca vote in each chamber without an ricanAmerican representativesor senators votin inaor o the bill.

is procedural and legislative histor o the deliberation and passage o the Voter ID law showsth changes ma have been made with discriminator intent, as well as with the obviousdicriminator impact on racial minorities his is at least more circumstantial evidence that hasnot been addressed or ustiied b the proponents' enatment o the law or in the sbmission orSetion 5 review.

Plicly Reported Examples

hre are hndreds o thosands o South Carolinians aected b this change Some willovrcome the increased brdens but man will not. Here are a ew examples that have beenplicl reported In this review, the brden o proo remains on the sbmitting authorit

Caliornia native Delores Freelon said her Caliorna birth ertiate doesn't have her irst nameon it Her mother didnt provide a irst name when she was born and missed a deadline to addthat to the birth certiicate and now she is nable to get a Soth Caroina ID Living ondiilit hek Freelon an't aord to spend more than $7 to petition a cort to change hernae It could take p to two ears or Caliornia to make the change

Larrie Butler, an 85earold Columbia native said no birth certiicate was issed or him whenhe was born in 1926. ow he an't get a Soth Carolina drivers license. He said he had one in99 when he moved to Marland, bt when he moved back last ear oth Carolina woldntisse him a license.

West Ashle resident Everett Garlington misplaced his drivers license; getting a replacementwill cost him more than $160 - mone he said the Department o Motor Vehicles wants becaseears ago he was late turning in a license plate ease his missing driver's license is still validthe MV won't isse an alternative photo ID to use at the polls

S hpwwwchou.ov/19 2011202 /hj 1 /20110406hm#368 S hp!wwwchouov!19 20112012h 20110426hp383Y S hp: / /wwwchouov/119 20112012 /1 /20110511 hm#350 S hpwwwhunnwcom!20107 02268138oup-rvord-Iwhm1 S hp:whunnwcom/201/07/09/2268138oupr-vor-id-whm2 S hpwwwhunnwcom20107192285895cvord-lwpromp-concrnhm


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Aanda Wolf of Sumte has voted eoe ut doesnt have a state DMVissued photo D h

ting to get valid and cuent photo identification ut an into polems ecause she wasapted and didnt know he paents names. She also has to get copies of he maiage licensea divoce decee whih ost money se doesn't have

Uregitered oting Age Popultion

Te potential impact of the new Vote ID law extends eyond the cuently egisteed votes.Aoding to 21 Census figues thee wee 1,113,852 nonwhite esidents of voting age inSuth Caolina in 21. The State Election Commission data show thee wee 797,5 nonwite egisteed votes in South Caolina in Noveme 21. These numes show 316,398 nonwite voting age esidents ae not egisteed to vote The new law euies the State Election

Cmission to issue vote egistation ads with a potogaph o the eleto

Neithe thesumitting authoity no the State Election Commission have adopted o pesented fopecleaance ules o egulations fo the administation of thisgovision, and the State is notisuing vote egistation cads with photogaphs of the electos. 6 Thus this povision fo voteeistation cads with photogaphs of the electos is not popely pesented fo Section 5 eviewan should not e pecleaed at this time. Without vote egistation cads with photogaphsthe new law should not e pecleaed eithe.

rimintor Purpoe nd the Proponen' Indeute Submiion

Te State of South Caolina has not sumitted poof "the poposed voting hange does not deny

o idge the ight to vote on aount o ae

The sumitting authoity also has not povideda edile "statement o the ntiipated eet o the nge on memes o aial o languagemioity goup Given the diect and cicumstantial evidence of a disciminatoy pupose and

See hp:www2wbf.onews 201 mar 29/oonenssasoerbllwolsmrea165616/ See hpfnr2enss.gofaesablseress[agsprwhmlfpble anhpwwwsoesorsass oer hsor5 See Seon 4 of A 27 2011) he new Voer D law o be ofe a S Coe Ann 75675)i oe slan aope a wosage mplemenaon of s new oer D law. Alhogh Rhoe slan sno a oere jrson reqres less resre forms of goernmensse pho enfaons anals al goernmensse enfaon omens who phoographs nl 2014 See NCSLVer enfaon Reqremens aesse a hpwwwnrefaIapx'a66)47 Se e hpwwwsego raboo!se 5makngphp he orne Gena w ma neermnaon egarng a ong hange whh has no been fnally aope The Aorney Genel anerheless make a sbsane eermnaon wh regar o a hange for whh approal by referenor y a sae or feeral or or a feeral ageny s reqre f he hange s no sbje o aleraon n hefnl approng aon an all oher aon neessary for approal has been aken. 8 C.R 512248 pwww.segorabo!o/se 5!abophp.4928 C.R 5127n).

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te obious discriminatory impact on racial minority electors in South Carolina, the Attoe

eneral should object to the South Carolina Voter ID law.

Te State bears the burden of proing the new restrictions will not make members of a racialinority group worse o than they had been beore the change with respect to their oppornitt eercise the electoral ranchise] In fact, the Republican leadership that passed the new lareused to attempt any analysis of the discriminatory efect Only one page of relevant data wascirculated during the debates on the Voter ID bill, and it was obtained and circulated byoponents of the legislation The data circulated show non-white voters are more than twice asliely as white voters not to have a photo ID This information should have reinorced thereponsibility of the proponents of a restrictive change to oting in a coered state, like SouthCrolina, to undertake a reliable analysis of the discriminatory impact the new law would hae if

iplemented under the conditions that currently exist or racial minority voters in SouthCrolina. Nothing was done.

e States submission makes no attempt and provides no factual information concerning thekey issue of the Section 5 review

How does the nations most restrictie new Voter ID law not abridge the right toote on account of race given the highly restrictie forms of identification, theadditional requirement o the identification being valid and current, the refusal toextend absentee oting to everyone, and the failure to preserve or provide a failsafe method of in-person oting by properly registered and qualified voters

Te proponent knew the number of registered oters without alid and current photoidetification from the Department of Motor Vehicles is disproportionately non-white and aboutthe disproportionately high levels o poverty and lack of transportation access by non-whites inSth Carolina. The proponent should have known suspensions of driers licenses arediproportionately nonwhite The proponents ailed to undertake any analysis of thediriminatory impact on racial minority electors in South Carolina, even though they also knewthey were passing the most restrictie Voter ID law in the country. he proponents reusal to

CFR 552 (An obeon shall be interposed to a submitted hange f the Attorney Genra sunl to determine that the hange s free of disriminatory purpose and effet This inludes thosesttons where the evidene as to the purpose or effet of the hange is oniting and the AttorneyGeera s unabe o deermne ha he hange is ree o dsrmnator purpose and ee" (emphassadded))

5 CFR 5-54(a)S Sppemental submisson by Jay Smith via emal (vot973@usdojgov on Juy 920 at 943 amatthment emai labeled Photo ID Informaton for DOJ with attahmentVoterRegistrationsVersesDriversLiensepdf (attahing one page tted: Registered Votrs ithout aDrvers iense or denaon Issued b DMV (b Rae))53 Se e video reordings of the legislative deliberations and debatessubmitted as an attahment to thisletter and labeled Voter ID Dis Voter ID Dis 2

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F the eao et foth above the ttoey Geeal hould obet to the South Caola oteID The ttoey Geeal hould ot gve the ubmttg authoty a pa fo falg to meet tbde of poof The ttoey Geeal hould obet to the e ote ID la beaue th thet ettve photo detfato la a uetly eated ad t ueealy ett thetg ght of aal moty votg goup South Caola thout adeuate mtgato foppely egteed ad ualfed eleto. leae aept th ubmo a oatoatg the poblty o the pohbted dmatoy puoe o eet

t epetfully

Seato Geald MalloyS C. Seate Dtt 29

: at Ja EueMembe of the S C Seate Demoat Cauu

8 CF.R 43.

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SC Democrat's Objection to Voter ID Law

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Transcript of SC Democrat's Objection to Voter ID Law