Eight weeks before the presidential election, new laws passed by Republican legislatures that concern who can vote and when remain in the hands of federal and state judges. Among the cases: The Pennsylvania Supreme Court this week will hear an appeal to overturn that state’s new voter ID law. An appeal is expected in a case involving early voting in Ohio. And a federal court is still considering whether South Carolina can go ahead with its new voter ID law. On Aug. 28, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley drew huge applause during her Republican National Convention speech when she promoted the state’s new law, which — if upheld — would require a state-approved photo identification at the polls. “We said in South Carolina that if you have to show a picture ID to buy Sudafed, if you have to show a picture ID to set foot on an airplane, then you should have to show picture ID to protect one of the most valuable, most central, sacred rights we are blessed with in America — the right to vote,” said Haley.
The Justice Department challenged the South Carolina law, and a three-judge panel in Washington, D.C., is considering whether the law should take effect before the Nov. 6 election. The court has heard from lawmakers who wrote the law, election officials who have to implement it, and voters to determine whether it would discriminate against minorities and violate the Voting Rights Act.
Delores Freelon was one of the voters who testified. The South Carolina woman says she cannot get a state photo ID because her birth certificate from 60 years ago bears only her maiden surname, not her first name. Her expired Louisiana driver’s license, her Social Security card and other non-photo ID didn’t help, even though they did get her on the plane to Washington.
Full Article: Voting Laws In Several States Remain Unsettled : NPR.