House Passes Voter ID Bill
Office of the Speaker
SOUTH CAROLINA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Greg Foster
February 26, 2009
(803) 734-3125
fosterg@scstatehouse.net
House Passes Voter ID Bill
Bill protects the integrity of our elections
(Columbia, SC) – Today, the South Carolina House of Representatives passed a bill that will help prevent fraud and secure our state’s election process by incorporating the use of picture identification in voting. Modeled after a Voter ID bill passed by the Indiana Legislature, this bill (H. 3418) is a key element of the SC Secure Election Act, a major agenda item for the House Republican Caucus.
House Speaker Bobby Harrell, lead sponsor of the legislation, said, “The Heart of democracy is the right to vote. If we do not protect that voting right from fraud and abuse, we are not protecting the ideals of democracy.”
Other states have also instituted Voter ID provisions. In Indiana, the requirement to show a picture ID when voting was challenged and the case went all the way to our nation’s highest court. Last year, the United States Supreme Court ruled that Indiana’s law was Constitutional and did not place an undue burden on the voter.
“To say that requiring a picture ID to vote creates an undue burden is absurd,” said Speaker Harrell. “A picture ID is required to do just about anything in our society, except to vote.”
# # #
“Actually, it’s not absurd. It’s actually a fact. Charleston college students were wrongly turned away at the polls in November, and it was far from the first time. Picture ID requirements breed confusion at the polls, especially for volunteer poll managers who don’t understand that the ID is for picture identification only — not to match addresses.
It’s also not clear to me by looking at the bill that it accounts for students that may have a drivers license from another state, but are still allowed to vote in South Carolina.” Greg Hambrick
http://news.ccpblogs.com/2009/02/26/sc-house-looks-to-stymy-student-vote/