Monday, January 7, 2013
Final bill more than three times initial estimate.
Last week it was announced that it will cost the state of South Carolina $3.5 million for its efforts to pass Voter ID laws. That’s more than three times the initial estimates made by S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson. Some of the bill will be defrayed by the federal government, since South Carolina was the “prevailing party.” The exact amount will be determined by this Friday, the 11th. Last Friday state lawmakers approved an additional $2 million in budget adjustments for the bill to be paid. The Voter ID law was passed in 2011 and was subsequently challenged by numerous groups and the Department of Justice blocked the bill from becoming law. Wilson then sued on behalf of the state and a three-judge federal panel upheld the law. Keep …
Thursday, September 6, 2012
Democratic delegates say the GOP needs to address its message not the messenger.
Last week at its convention in Tampa, the Republican Party attempted to address what Sen. Lindsey Graham referred to as its “demographic” problem. Graham said that the party can no longer rely on angry white men to win elections, and the polls back him up. So it’s no coincidence that the GOP convention featured a diverse range of speakers, including South Carolina’s own Gov. Nikki Haley and Rep. Tim Scott, Florida’s Sen. Marco Rubio and former Secretary of State Condolleezza Rice. But Democrats at their convention in Charlotte say that the GOP is missing the point. While diversifying its range of speakers shows progress, Democrats say that the message not the messenger is what matters and it is the Republican Party’s platform that is …
Monday, September 3, 2012
Civil rights leader says Nikki Haley is trampling on Voting Rights Act.
CHARLOTTE — S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley wouldn't be a voter, much less governor, if it wasn't for the Voting Rights Act now jeopardized by new requirements to show picture ID when casting a ballot. That's the view of the Rev. Jesse Jackson, who spoke Monday at a handful of impromptu events at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte. "I'm astonished Nikki Haley would take such a strong position against easy access to voting when she is a primary beneficiary of the Voting Rights Act,' Jackson told Patch. The state's first female governor, Haley's parents are Indian immigrants. She was reared as a Sikh, though she converted to Christianity as an adult. "She's a part of the wave of beneficiaries of the Voting Rights Act," Jackson said after …
Monday, August 27, 2012
South Carolina makes the case for its Voter ID law before a panel in Washington, D.C., this week.
UPDATED (8 p.m. Aug. 27, 2012): After a day spent in federal court, Attorney General Alan Wilson held a conference call with the media. Wilson was joined in Washington, D.C. by Lt. Governor Glenn McConnell, House Speaker Bobby Harrell, Sen. Chip Campson (R – Charleston) and Rep. Alan Clemmons (R – Horry). Campson and Clemmons took the stand and Clemmons will continue his testimony on Tuesday. Wilson immediately defended the Voter ID law against charges that it would suppress the vote of the poor and minorities, groups that tend to vote Democratic. “The bill does not change the requirements for registering to vote. Citizens can get an ID free of charge at their nearest election office,” Wilson said. Wilson also noted that even if voters …
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Pennsylvania becomes the latest state to uphold the voter identification law, while other states are still challenging the law.
Nineteen states have toughened their voter identification laws in the last two years. At least a third of the remaining states have challenges still pending, including South Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas and Florida. On Wednesday, Judge Robert Simpson upheld Pennsylvania's controversial Voter ID law. Supporters argue the laws protect against in-person voter impersonation fraud. As a result, at least 30 states have enacted some type of voter ID reform. South Carolina's case is expected to be heard in federal court later this month. But are stronger Voter ID laws needed? Data from a project funded by the Carnegie and Knight foundations showed that in-person voter fraud is virtually nonexistent in the United States, with only 10 cases confirmed …
Monday, June 18, 2012
More than 60 percent of influential conservatives responding to our Red Palmetto survey said the session was not a success.
The S.C. legislative session wrapping up this month in Columbia was disappointing to most influential Republicans who took part in our Red Palmetto survey last week. But unlike in Washington, they don't blame Democrats. More than 60 percent of respondents categorized the session as either "very disappointing" (28.6 percent) or "somewhat disappointing" (32.7 percent). Only 4.1 percent called it "very successful" and 30.6 percent deemed it "somewhat successful." Ninety-seven conservatives from the Greenville, Columbia, and Charleston areas were asked using an automated survey tool what they thought of the work in the State House this year. Forty-nine responses were collected. Comments by survey-takers displayed the frustration: "The 2012 …
Monday, April 30, 2012
Court wants answers to get program running by November.
S.C. officials have until today to determine whether the state's new Voter ID program could be ready to use by November, according to The Associated Press. Now, it will be up to state Attorney General Alan Wilson to outline what steps the state would need to take to create photo voter ID cards and make sure voters know the rules in enough time for the general election. The U.S. Justice Department rejected the state's Voter ID law, which would require voters to present a drivers license or some other approved picture ID at the polls, instead of the practice of allowing individuals to vote with a voter registration card with no picture identification. Supporters of the new law say that voting should be more difficult to avoid fraud. …
Monday, April 16, 2012
73 percent think voter ID before voting is not discriminatory.
A poll released today shows most Americans favor showing an ID before voting, because they believe voter fraud is a substantial problem. A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that 64 percent of Likely U.S. Voters rate voter fraud at least a somewhat serious problem in the United States today, and just 24 percent disagree. This includes 35 percent who consider it a very serious problem and 7 percent who view it as not at all serious. Twelve percent are undecided, according to Rasmussen. The voter ID issue has been a hot-button topic in South Carolina, which has vowed to fight for a voter ID requirement after the U.S. Department of Justice struck down the state's law mandating IDs at the polls. Opponents say voter ID …
Thursday, February 23, 2012
State election commission reveals findings of internal investigation
The director of the South Carolina Election Commission released a report Wednesday refuting claims that more than 200 dead voters participated during the 2010 election. Election Commission Executive Director Marci Andino said that 197 of the cases her agency investigated appeared to be results of human error or coincidence and not cases of voter fraud. The other ten cases proved inconclusive. In a letter to South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson, Andino said her agency spent more than 200 hours examining suspected cases of voter fraud from the 2010 general election. "Due to the size and scope of the task of examining every claim, the review was limited to the 207 cases related to the 2010 General Election," Andino said. "Investigation…
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Rejected by the U.S. Department of Justice, the state's suit argues its controversial law is not discriminatory.
Following through on his threat last month, S.C. Attorney General Alan Wilson on Tuesday filed suit against the U.S. Justice Department in a bid to overturn the department's December decision to prohibit several controversial provisions of the state's Voter I.D. law from taking effect. "The DOJ has refused to allow South Carolina to enact its Voter I.D. law, claiming it does not adequately protect voters from discrimination, per the 1965 Voting Rights Act," Wilson said in a release. "However, very similar laws have been upheld by the United States Supreme Court (in the case of Indiana), and even pre-cleared by the DOJ itself (in the case of Georgia)." The state's Voter I.D. law was passed in 2011, and requires voters to show photo …
Jessie Gable
4:42 am on Wednesday, January 9, 2013
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