SC: Gov. Haley (R) signs photo voter-ID law

[Tender Branson]

South Carolina governor signs voter photo ID bill



(Reuters) - Governor Nikki Haley on Wednesday signed into law a bill that requires voters to show photo identification at the polls, making South Carolina the tenth state to adopt such legislation.

The measure landed on the Republican governor's desk after state senators voted 26-16 last week to concur with the House of Representatives bill, which requires people to show a driver's license, military identification or passport along with their voter registration card when they vote.

Those who don't have a photo ID must obtain a new voter registration card that includes a photo. A birth certificate or passport can be used to prove identity.

"If you can show a picture to buy Sudafed, if you can show a picture to get on an airplane, you should be able to show a picture to make sure that we do what is incredibly inherent in our freedoms and that is the ability to vote," Haley said at the signing ceremony in Columbia.

Similar legislation died in the state Senate in 2010.

During contentious debate this spring, Democrats called the legislation "voter suppression" and said it was pushed by Republicans soon after Barack Obama was elected president.

"In 2008, we had too many black folk, too many brown folk, too many poor folk voting," said state Representative David J. Mack III. "They (Republicans) can't have that in 2012."

Supporters said the measure was meant to combat voter fraud.

"It is just a simple means of commonly used technology to ensure the integrity of our ballot," said Greg Foster, spokesman for House Speaker Bobby Harrell.

"In South Carolina you have to show a photo ID to do almost everything. This is not about any one individual or one set of individuals."

Kansas also added a photo ID requirement this year, which takes effect January 1. Thirty-three states have considered adding or strengthening voter identification requirements this year, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/18/us-southcarolina-idUSTRE74H5YD20110518

Good to see ...

[Meeker]

Disturbing.

[Marokai Backbeat]

Gotta keep those Democrats away from the polls as much as possible, afterall.

[CatoMinor]

Not that I support this, but you guys are overreacting. Having people show photo ID's to vote* isn't exactly Jim crow material here.


(which if you do not have they apparently will provide you with a new voter registration card that has a pic)

[Queen Mum Inks.LWC]

Gotta keep those Democrats away from the polls as much as possible, afterall.

And how is that so?  I've been to the polls in Detroit... I've seen some of the sketchy things that go on at times.  How is it such a shameful thing to make sure that people who are voting are actually who they claim to be?  (Although things in Michigan are a little different, as we don't have to show our voter registration cards.)  Even people who don't have IDs can often vote after signing an afidavit saying they don't have an ID... that just means they actually can't have one, otherwise they could be legally liable.  So, what's the harm in that?

[Phony Moderate]

I thought the Republicans were opposed to Big Government?

[Tender Branson]

Gotta keep those Democrats away from the polls as much as possible, afterall.

Bullsh**t.

Indiana law requires photo ID before voting and Obama won the state fir the first time in more than 40 years.

If Democrats cannot win with voter ID in place and just complain, they shouldn't win at all.

[Franzl]

Do we need a new thread every time?

[MaxQue]

I still don't see the problem with asking an ID with a photo for voting.

Most Occidental countries are already asking something similar.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I don't have a problem with it if the photo voter registration card is free. 

[Joe Republic]

I don't have a problem with it if the photo voter registration card is free. 

In South Carolina it costs $5.  Not much at all, compared to other states, but it still goes against the principle of not having a poll tax.  And yes, even five bucks is still an unnecessary expense for some people, many of whom will be found in South Carolina.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

I don't have a problem with it if the photo voter registration card is free.  

In South Carolina it costs $5.  Not much at all, compared to other states, but it still goes against the principle of not having a poll tax.  And yes, even five bucks is still an unnecessary expense for some people, many of whom will be found in South Carolina.

Then I have a problem with it........I meant totally free.  I wonder if it will be challenged on the basis?  I hope so.

[memphis]

In addition to the constitutional issue, what gets me is how everytime this debate emerges, the GOP acts like everybody must already have an ID because "you need an ID to fly on airplane or rent a movie, etc." Surely, they cannot be sheltered enough to think that everybody indulges in these luxuries. All it takes is a quick car ride to learn that there a destitute class out there, who is completely detached from our consumer economy. And they are citizens and entitled to vote just like everybody else.

[Grumpier Than Uncle Joe]

In addition to the constitutional issue, what gets me is how everytime this debate emerges, the GOP acts like everybody must already have an ID because "you need an ID to fly on airplane or rent a movie, etc." Surely, they cannot be sheltered enough to think that everybody indulges in these luxuries. All it takes is a quick car ride to learn that there a destitute class out there, who is completely detached from our consumer economy. And they are citizens and entitled to vote just like everybody else.

Agreed......would you support a FREE photo voter registration card if the state made them available?  Yes, friend, a compromise. 

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

How radical, what's next, I'll need a photo ID to go drinking?



 

[Joe Republic]

How radical, what's next, I need a photo ID to go drinking?

I notice that people still aren't recognizing the point that Gramps, memphis and I have been making here.

[Mechaman]

How radical, what's next, I'll need a photo ID to go drinking?

[Tender Branson]

How radical, what's next, I need a photo ID to go drinking?

I notice that people still aren't recognizing the point that Gramps, memphis and I have been making here.

"Poll Tax" ?

I´d by happy paying this 5$ once for this license and then vote for the rest of my life when it is a step to guarantee safe elections.

Better once paying 5$ than having a crappy election like Florida 2000 all over again.

[Swedish Rainbow Capitalist Cheese]

How radical, what's next, I need a photo ID to go drinking?

I notice that people still aren't recognizing the point that Gramps, memphis and I have been making here.

I understand the principle that voting should be free of any sort of cost. I just object to that this should be considered a fee. After all some people who live on the country side doesn't live in walking distance from a polling station, should the cost it takes for them to get to a polling station be considered a fee?

[Small Business Owner of Any Repute]

If you're going to charge as little as $5 for the damn things, I don't know why you can't go the extra step and just make them free.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

If you're going to charge as little as $5 for the damn things, I don't know why you can't go the extra step and just make them free.

I don't know if it made it into the final bill, but they did have a provision to make the non-DL ID free in it initially.

[Landslide Lyndon]

Free ID Card+Automatic/Compulsory Registration when you become adult= Real Democracy.

[DrScholl]

Bullsh**t.

Indiana law requires photo ID before voting and Obama won the state fir the first time in more than 40 years.

If Democrats cannot win with voter ID in place and just complain, they shouldn't win at all.

That's not the point, the point is the intent of the Republican Party. $5 is a lot of money to some people who like to vote, it's not fair at all to expect people to pay to vote. Voter fraud is almost non-existent, so what exactly does this make better?

[Tender Branson]

Bullsh**t.

Indiana law requires photo ID before voting and Obama won the state fir the first time in more than 40 years.

If Democrats cannot win with voter ID in place and just complain, they shouldn't win at all.

That's not the point, the point is the intent of the Republican Party. $5 is a lot of money to some people who like to vote, it's not fair at all to expect people to pay to vote. Voter fraud is almost non-existent, so what exactly does this make better?

The intent of the Republican party is surely to make the elections safer, not to place additional hurdles for poor people and minorities.

If they would have the intent of placing additional hurdles to these people, they would probably make it harder to even get an ID by raising the application fees or something like that.

And really, 5$ is not a lot to get an ID and then you can vote forever, people spend more money on buying sh*t like drugs, cigarettes and alcohol than this.

If there are really poor people who cannot afford it, then there should be some kind of system which subsidizes these poor people and gets them a free license, similar to the commuter benefit application in my state, in which people earning below 20.000€ a year are getting a commuter benefit.

And another option is for example the Indiana law, which says:

"Voters who are unable or decline to produce proof of identification may vote a provisional ballot. The ballot is counted only if (1) the voter returns to the election board by noon on the Monday after the election and: (A) produces proof of identification; or (B) executes an affidavit stating that the voter cannot obtain proof of identification, because the voter: (i) is indigent; or (ii) has a religious objection to being photographed; and (2) the voter has not been challenged or required to vote a provisional ballot for any other reason."

...

And yes, it's rather easy to commit voter fraud if there's no photo ID presented to the local election commission. I give you a rather extreme example:

There are 10 poor people of 2 families in a Chicago neighbourhood. A party official from Indiana knows one of them and sets up a "deal". He sends 10 people from Indiana to their Chicago precinct to vote instead of them (all 10 for 1 party of course) and provides them a good amount of cash, if they also get him their names and birth dates. These 10 people from Indiana have their new personal data, drive to Chicago and vote without an ID. Voter Fraud. If they would all have a Photo ID, it would be much harder to fake this.

[bgwah]

At least this can't be racist, since Nimrata Randhawa "Nikki Haley" is a minority.