Tennessee: 96-year-old Chattanooga resident denied voting ID | timesfreepress.com

Dorothy Cooper is 96 but she can remember only one election when she’s been eligible to vote but hasn’t. The retired domestic worker was born in a small North Georgia town before women had the right to vote. She began casting ballots in her 20s after moving to Chattanooga for work. She missed voting for John F. Kennedy in 1960 because a move to Nashville prevented her from registering in time.

So when she learned last month at a community meeting that under a new state law she’d need a photo ID to vote next year, she talked with a volunteer about how to get to a state Driver Service Center to get her free ID. But when she got there Monday with an envelope full of documents, a clerk denied her request.

That morning, Cooper slipped a rent receipt, a copy of her lease, her voter registration card and her birth certificate into a Manila envelope. Typewritten on the birth certificate was her maiden name, Dorothy Alexander. “But I didn’t have my marriage certificate,” Cooper said Tuesday afternoon, and that was the reason the clerk said she was denied a free voter ID at the Cherokee Boulevard Driver Service Center. “I don’t know what difference it makes,” Cooper said.

Editorials: ‘I’m just wondering if it’s all necessary’ | The Item

Antonia Preston made a trip to Sumter’s branch of the Department of Motor Vehicles on Wednesday to get an ID but will have to go back today. The 89-year-old Sumterite doesn’t have a birth certificate, she said, and her current state ID expired.

The state DMV hosted “State Identification Card Day” on Wednesday in an effort to get people government-issued IDs so they’re able to vote after the Voter ID law takes effect in November.

Proponents of the law say it’s needed to combat voter fraud, while detractors contend many elderly and rural residents will be disenfranchised because often their births weren’t registered with the state.

South Carolina: More voters than first thought don’t have photo ID | MidlandsConnect.com

New numbers from the state Election Commission out late Tuesday show approximately 217,000 South Carolina voters don’t have a photo identification, which could be required if the U.S. Justice Department approves the state law.

That’s up from 178,000 voters without the ID in January 2010. The commission initially compared its voter lists with DMV records at legislators’ request. It re-compared the lists to comply with the law signed in May, which requires each of those voters to be notified. The update also answers a question from the U.S. Department of Justice, which is reviewing the law.

The Department of Motor Vehicles says nearly 700 people have called about getting a free ride to get a photo identification card to comply with South Carolina’s new voter ID law. According to the DMV, only 25 rides are scheduled for the one-day only free ride program, happening Wednesday, and most of the people who called the DMV were not interested in getting a ride.

South Carolina: In Beaufort County, 10 percent of voters must seek photo ID to vote | savannahnow.com

Of Beaufort County’s 92,879 registered voters, 9,674 or just more than 10.4 percent will not be able to vote in the next election unless they obtain a state-approved photo identification card. The United State Department of Justice is reviewing South Carolina’s new voter ID law, which was pushed by Republican state lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley in May. For the law to go into effect, the federal justice department must issue a decision under the Voting Rights Act, given South Carolina and other southern states’ history of discrimination.

The governor, however, announced that Sept. 28 will be “Identification Card Day,” which will allow any citizen 18 or older who has no valid driver’s license or identification card to request state-sponsored transportation to an office of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Reservations must be made by Sept. 22.

Statewide the new law would bar 178,175 of the state’s 2.5 million registered voters from voting, unless they obtained identification. The affected population with no driver’s license or approved ID makes up 6.96 percent of the state’s registered voters. Under the new law, a military ID or passport would also be OK.

South Carolina: In Beaufort County, 10 percent of voters must seek photo ID to vote | savannahnow.com

Of Beaufort County’s 92,879 registered voters, 9,674 or just more than 10.4 percent will not be able to vote in the next election unless they obtain a state-approved photo identification card. The United State Department of Justice is reviewing South Carolina’s new voter ID law, which was pushed by Republican state lawmakers and signed into law by Gov. Nikki Haley in May. For the law to go into effect, the federal justice department must issue a decision under the Voting Rights Act, given South Carolina and other southern states’ history of discrimination.

The governor, however, announced that Sept. 28 will be “Identification Card Day,” which will allow any citizen 18 or older who has no valid driver’s license or identification card to request state-sponsored transportation to an office of the Department of Motor Vehicles. Reservations must be made by Sept. 22.

Statewide the new law would bar 178,175 of the state’s 2.5 million registered voters from voting, unless they obtained identification. The affected population with no driver’s license or approved ID makes up 6.96 percent of the state’s registered voters. Under the new law, a military ID or passport would also be OK.

South Carolina: Voter ID law put on hold | SCNOW

Early last week, the US Department of Justice put a hold on South Carolina’s Voter ID law, instead requesting more information about the enforcement of the law.  The DOJ responded Monday evening with a four-page letter consisting of questions and information that needed to be provided before approval of the law.  South Carolina now has until Sept. 12 to respond.  Then, the DOJ will once again have 60 days to respond.  Given its terrible past dealing with the disenfranchisement of minorities, the Voter Rights Act requires states like South Carolina to have all voting law changes approved by either the US Department of Justice or a federal district court.

South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley signed the South Carolina voter ID law on May 18 of this year.  The law requires that all of South Carolina’s registered voters present some form of a photo ID at the voting polls.  The forms of photo ID that are accepted include a driver’s license or DMV-provided ID, a passport, a military ID, or a special voter ID card.  Student ID’s or any other photo ID will not be accepted.

South Carolina: State Voter ID Laws Draw National Scrutiny | ABC News

The Department of Justice is reviewing, and has the power to reject acontroversial new law passed in South Carolina that requires a registered voter to present a government -issued photo ID before his or her vote is counted.

Gov. Nikki Haley signed the bill into law in May and she’s not alone. Four other states have passed similar voter ID laws in 2011, including Wisconsin, Texas, Tennessee and Kansas. But thanks to the DOJ, South Carolina’s law could still be rejected by federal officials. And while other states have passed voter photo ID laws in the past, the laws passed in 2011 are by far the strictest with the exception of the law passed in 2005 by the state of Indiana.

South Carolina: Disabled say South Carolina plan for voter ID discriminates | TheState.com

Advocates for people with disabilities say a plan to give free rides to South Carolina residents who need state-approved photo identification at the state Department of Motor Vehicles is discriminatory.

The (Columbia) State reported (http://bit.ly/q3jwJe) that Gov. Nikki Haley backs the plan to provide free rides Sept. 28. A state law would require all voters to present a state-approved photo ID at the polls. The U.S. Justice Department must sign off on the law.

South Carolina: DOJ Has More Questions About South Carolina’s Voter ID Law | TPM

The Justice Department wants more information about South Carolina’s new voter ID law, which was signed by Gov. Nikki Haley (R) in May. Under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, South Carolina is required to have changes to the state’s voting laws precleared by federal authorities or by a federal court to insure they’re not discriminatory.

A letter from the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division asks South Carolina for more information about their voter ID law and lays out eight questions about how it will be implemented.

National: Repealing the Voting Rights Act | Technorati

The State of Arizona and its Republican Governor Jan Brewer received a lot of negative press and garnered national attention last year over its immigration legislation that allowed for racial profiling. It also drew the attention of the Obama administration and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Last week, Arizona filed a lawsuit challenging the Voting Rights Act of 1965 (VRA). Arizona’s Republican Attorney General Tom Horne said that the requirement for the state to get prior approval from the DOJ for any changes to the state’s election laws is unconstitutional.

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder responded to the Arizona suit that the Voting Rights Act is vital to ensure that “every American has the right to vote and have that vote counted.” Holder added, “The provisions challenged in this case, including the preclearance requirement, were reauthorized by Congress in 2006 with overwhelming and bipartisan support.” Holder said the DOJ “will continue to enforce the Voting Rights Act, including each of the provisions challenged today.”

South Carolina: Haley on getting a photo ID: We’ll pick you up | Houston Chronicle

Gov. Nikki Haley’s invitation Wednesday to voters who lack the photo ID necessary to vote under South Carolina’s new law echoed a rental car slogan. “We’re picking you up,” she said.

The Department of Motor Vehicles has set aside Wednesday, Sept. 28, for anyone who needs a ride. Voters who lack transportation can call a toll-free number to arrange a pickup from a DMV employee, Haley said.

… Democratic Party Chairman Dick Harpootlian called it a lame attempt to quiet critics. “This is ridiculous. One day to get this done for 178,000 people is dishonest and cruel. This is a useless gesture,” he said. “This is not even a good PR stunt.”

South Carolina: Department of Justice seeks info on voter ID law | The Post and Courier

Read the Department of Justice’s request for more information on SC’s Voter ID law.

South Carolina voters will have wait to find out whether the U.S. Department of Justice will authorize the state’s new voter ID law, following an announcement Monday that federal officials need more information from the state.

Chris Whitmire, spokesman for the State Election Commission, said once state officials supply the information to the Justice Department, a 60-day window will begin for the federal agency to render a decision on the law. The law could be in effect for the November elections, but that will depend on how long the state takes to respond and if the Justice Department takes two full months to decide.

South Carolina: State Attorney General says voter ID can be delayed | AP

The estimated 178,000 South Carolina voters who don’t have state-issued photo identification will be able to cast ballots in upcoming local elections despite a new ID law, according to an attorney general’s opinion released Tuesday.

Since the U.S. Justice Department has not approved the law yet, the opinion agreed with state Election Commission Executive Director Marci Andino that there isn’t enough time to educate voters about the new law before the next round of municipal elections around the state set for late August and early September.

“Such short time period is beyond the voter’s control,” deputy attorney general Robert Cook wrote in his opinion. The law, passed in May and signed by Gov. Nikki Haley, requires a driver’s license or one of several other forms of photo ID to vote.

South Carolina: Voter ID battle: Getting Married Can Make it Difficult to Vote in South Carolina | The Post and Courier

Multiple marriages have played havoc with Massachusetts transplant Andrea Tangredi’s hopes of getting a South Carolina driver’s license. During a Monday rally for foes of the new S.C. voter ID law, Andrea Tangredi tells of her experience at the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles when she tried to get her driver’s license changed from Massachusetts to South Carolina. Tangredi still is trying to get her new South Carolina driver’s license along with her voter-registration card.

By her count, Tangredi has spent at least 17 hours online and in person since July trying to get a license here, only to face hurdle after hurdle tied to her several name changes. On Monday she asked aloud that if it is this hard to get a South Carolina driver’s license, how much more difficult is it to get documentation for a voter ID?

“I’m educated,” she said during a forum sponsored by opponents of the state’s new voter ID law. “I don’t know how someone who isn’t would want to ever start this process.”

South Carolina: Groups ask Justice Department to block voter ID law | TheState.com

A coalition of six S.C. groups moved Friday to halt a new state law that requires voters to present a picture ID to cast a ballot at the polls. About 178,000 S.C. voters do not have photo IDs, such as a valid S.C. driver’s license, and would be affected by the change, according to 2010 State Election Commission data. Previously voters could present their voter registration cards, which do not include a photo, at the polls.

The coalition, including the ACLU and the League of Women Voters of South Carolina, sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department, arguing the new law should be blocked because it is discriminatory. The groups said African-Americans are less likely than whites to have a driver’s license or other state-issued identification, as required by the law.

“We’re rolling back a basic right,” said Victoria Middleton, executive director of the ACLU of South Carolina. “Voting is not a privilege in a democracy.” Advocates of the new law, approved by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Nikki Haley this year, tout it as a way to curb voter fraud and safeguard state elections.

South Carolina: Democrats challenge Gov. Haley’s voter ID claims | MidlandsConnect.com

South Carolina Democrats are taking aim at Governor Nikki Haley after she made bold claims about the state’s new voter photo ID law.

In a recent interview with WHNS, a Fox affiliate in Greenville, Haley said she would personally drive people who lack a form of photo identification to the Department of Motor Vehicles so they could get a new photo ID card.

“Find me those people who think that this is invading their rights.  Find, and I will go take them to the DMV myself and help them get that picture ID,” Haley said in the interview.

South Carolina: Democrats want Lt. Governor Ken Ard recall vote | The Post and Courier

If Lt. Gov. Ken Ard won’t go on his own, Democrats want to give voters the chance to kick him to the curb themselves. Three House Democratic members joined their party chairman, Dick Harpootlian, Thursday to announce a plan to push legislation that would allow voters to recall Ard’s election.

The bill, which could become law in the upcoming special session scheduled for next week, would apply to all constitutional officers. If the bill passes, voters would be given the chance to amend the state constitution in November to allow future election recalls.

For an election recall to be put on the ballot, under the proposal, 15 percent of the voters who took part in the original election must sign a petition.

South Carolina: Voter ID law prompts concern | TheSunNews.com

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.

South Carolina: Critics challenge South Carolina ‘Voter ID’ plan | TheState.com

When Delores Freelon was born in 1952, her mother could not decide on a name for her. So the space on the birth certificate for a first name was left blank. In the decades since, the incomplete birth certificate did not prevent Freelon from getting her driver’s license and voter registration card in the various states she has lived, including Texas and Louisiana.

But a measure — already passed by the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Nikki Haley — will create new hurdles for Freelon and others to vote.

Delores Freelon, 59, who has voted since she was 18 years old, worries she wont’ be able to vote under the new photo ID law. Although she has a Social Security card, a Medicare card, and an expired Louisiana drivers license the S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles will not issue her a S.C. drivers license or S.C. identification card because her first name is not on her birth certificate.

South Carolina: South Carolina Election Commission hopes to have deals reached on 2012 presidential primary by October | The Republic

South Carolina’s Election Commission expects to have plans in place for running the first-in-the South presidential primary by October, the agency said Wednesday.

The primary’s funding and fate were put in doubt by state budget writers and Gov. Nikki Haley’s veto of money for the contest. The Legislature overrode the veto last week and the state’s attorney general says the Election Commission can run the primary and bill the state Republican Party.

That will happen under a contract the state will discuss, draft and commit to by October, Election Commission spokesman Chris Whitmire said.

South Carolina: Sources: Haley will veto primary bill | The Associated Press

South Carolina’s governor will veto proposals to use taxpayer money to run the first-in-the-South Republican presidential primary in February, officials said Monday. Two officials familiar with Republican Gov. Nikki Haley’s decision spoke on condition of not being identified, saying they did not want to pre-empt her veto announcements expected Tuesday.

“She’s been pretty clear from day one in this process that in this kind of budget year that taxpayer dollars don’t need to go to pay for a primary election and that it’s the responsibility of the party to take care of those dollars,” one of the officials said.

The officials said the veto would not imperil the primary largely because of opinions released Monday and last week by the state attorney general and earlier this month by the U.S. Justice Department.

South Carolina: Budget Crisis May Force South Carolina To Cancel Republican Primary | Business Insider

South Carolina’s key first-in-the-South GOP primary is about to lose its state funding, perhaps forcing its cancellation, as Governor Nikki Haley seeks to close an $800 million budget gap.

For months Haley has warned state legislators not to include and funding for the bellwether primary in next year’s budget, and she is likely to veto lawmakers’ plans to spend $680,000 left over from last year’s midterm election on the vote.

South Carolina: Election Commission can run South Carolina GOP primary, Attorney General says | TheState.com

State law allows the S.C. Election Commission to run the 2012 S.C. Republican presidential primary even if Gov. Nikki Haley vetoes sections of the state budget intended to ensure the agency oversees that vote, according to an opinion issued Monday by S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson.

Haley has threatened to veto sections of the budget that allow the Election Commission to use $680,000 in its savings to help pay the primary’s estimated $1.5 million cost. Republican Haley repeatedly has said taxpayers should not pay for the primary.

In addition, lawmakers failed to add a section to the budget making it clear the state Election Commission could contract with the S.C. GOP to conduct the primary. S.C. GOP chairman Chad Connelly said last week that, without the state’s electronic voting machines, paid poll workers and other oversight, the party legally might not be able to host the primary, expected to be held in February or March.

South Carolina: Haley poised to act on state budget – funding for primary election in jeopardy | TheState.com

South Carolina’s much-watched first-in-the-South Republican presidential primary could become a far less important first-in-the-South caucus.
Without the help of the state, the party may not legally be able to hold a primary in early 2012, Chad Connelly, the recently elected chairman of the S.C. GOP, said Friday.

Gov. Nikki Haley is expected to veto part of a state budget proposal, now on her desk, that could partially pay for that primary. Connelly is concerned that veto would mean the State Election Commission could not help run the GOP primary, forcing the party to opt for a caucus.

Switching to a caucus would end the state’s three-decade tradition of holding the first-in-the-South primary. That primary’s importance has been bolstered by state Republican voters’ record of picking the eventual GOP nominee in every race since Ronald Reagan in 1980. The state also would lose national exposure, prestige and millions of dollars that campaigns, media and others spend during the event.

South Carolina: South Carolina primary has money troubles | POLITICO.com

South Carolina’s primary — and its state pride — is on the line. Faced with a state GOP that’s low on cash and a governor who’s cut off taxpayer funds, officials are scrambling to put together the $1.5 million necessary to run operations for the 2012 GOP presidential primary.

Primaries used to be the parties’ burden. But in 2008, Republicans and Democrats won state funding for their presidential primaries, which now allow crossover voting, putting their management in the hands of the State Election Commission for the first time. With tough economic times in the Palmetto State, the expected funding has now gotten tangled in a budget fight, and Republican Gov. Nikki Haleyshows no signs of giving in to the state GOP’s new request for funding.

The State Election Commission on Friday won some relief when the state budget office advised that the agency would be able to use leftover cash from last year’s elections, up to $680,000, for next year’s state primaries and elections — even if Haley vetoes the measure in the budget bill.

But that still leaves them almost $1 million short.

South Carolina: No money in South Carolina budget to fund 2012 GOP primary | The Associated Press

South Carolina will not fund the state GOP’s first-in-the-South presidential primary in February, leaving officials scrambling to sort out who will pay for it. The Republican Party insists the primary will go on, even if the GOP must come up with as much as $1.5 million to run it.

“In no way is this primary in jeopardy,” said Matt Moore, the state GOP’s executive director.

The party could go back to running the primary with paper ballots and volunteers, which is how it was done until 2008. That year, Republicans and Democrats pushed for and won state funding for the wide-open White House primaries and the state election commission started running them.

But Republican Gov. Nikki Haley, a conservative who has been making a name for herself nationally, insists that taxpayer funds be used only for what she calls core functions. She told lawmakers earlier this year that those functions don’t include primaries.

South Carolina: Compromise reached on South Carolina spending plan – no funding for presidential primary – State may use paper ballots | Westport News

Final deals agreed to Thursday on a $6 billion spending plan will give businesses a break on millions of dollars in unemployment tax collections and put millions more into public schools.

The budget conference committee also agreed not to put cash into South Carolina’s first-in-the-South Republican primary early next year and have left it unclear whether the state GOP will run the event with paper ballots.

The agreement means the House and Senate could accept the final plan on Wednesday and send it to Gov. Nikki Haley, who can veto what she doesn’t like. And she’s set the stage already by threatening to veto extra spending on schools or any taxpayer cash used for South Carolina Education Television or the state Arts Commission.

South Carolina: GOP’s early voting opposition may nix Haley agenda in South Carolina | The Item: AP

It appears almost certain that lawmakers won’t be able to push through the government restructuring legislation wanted by Gov. Nikki Haley, as Democrats have vowed to block it unless Republicans compromise on early voting.

That’s an issue that Republicans generally are dead-set against. GOP lawmakers won’t be able to pass a resolution that allows them to consider Haley’s proposal without the support of at least some Democrats. Haley had hoped the House and Senate could get her legislation approved when they return to the Statehouse today for wrap-up on the budget and redrawing election district lines.

Editorials: League of Women Voters denounces passage of South Carolina voter suppression legislation | The Pickens Sentinel

League of Women Voters of South Carolina President Barbara Zia strongly denounced passage of the “voter photo identification” bill in the state General Assembly and calls on Governor Haley to veto this legislation.

The legislation requires eligible citizens to present specific government-issued photo identification in order to exercise their constitutional right to vote. This is an expensive new government program that will create barriers to voting for thousands of citizens in an effort to “fix” a problem that doesn’t exist.