West Ashley resident Everett Garlington is among the estimated 180,000 people who could be disenfranchised if S.C.’s photo ID law holds up.
His trouble: he misplaced his driver’s license.
True, he could get a replacement, but it will cost him more than $160 – money he said the Department of Motor Vehicles wants because years ago he was late turning in a license plate.
The other half of Garlington’s troubles: Because his missing driver’s license is still valid, the DMV won’t issue an alternative photo ID to use at the polls.
“If they had an election today, I couldn’t vote,” said Garlington, 59.
Garlington was among more than 40 people who appeared at an NAACP town hall meeting Monday where opponents said they would do everything in their power to see that the state’s new voter ID law never gets used. Many said it is no more than an attempt to rekindle Jim Crow through a modern-day poll tax.
“In America, we should be trying to include people in the voting process; this excludes people,” said Nelson Rivers III, vice president of stakeholder relations for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, during the at the Alfred Williams Community Center in North Charleston.
South Carolina’s voter ID law passed the GOP-controlled Statehouse this year on a largely partisan vote as an attempt to curb voter fraud. It requires anyone wishing to vote to first show a government-recognized photograph ID.
While the bill was signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley, it must still win approval from the U.S. Department of Justice before it can be enforced.
Full Article: S.C. voter ID law prompts concern – Local – TheSunNews.com.