South Carolina voter ID law struck down

COLUMBIA, S.C. - The U.S. Department of Justice rejected South Carolina's voter ID law Friday, saying the new policy doesn't do enough to ensure that minority voters aren't discriminated against.

"Until South Carolina succeeds in substantially addressing the racial disparities described above, however, the state cannot meet its burden of proving that, when compared to the benchmark standard, the voter identification requirements proposed ... will not have a retrogressive effect," Assistant Attorney General Thomas E. Perez wrote Friday in a letter to the office of South Carolina's attorney general.

Perez said that non-whites comprise about one-third of South Carolina's registered voters and also are one-third of the registered voters who don't have the right ID necessary to vote. Perez says tens of thousands of South Carolina minorities may be unable to cast ballots.

In response, South Carolina could now sue over the rejection, pass a new law or submit more data to the Justice Department. Spokesmen for Gov. Nikki Haley and Attorney General Alan Wilson did not immediately respond to email messages sent Friday, which was a state holiday.

South Carolina's new voter ID law requires people casting ballots to show poll workers a state-issued driver's license or ID card; a U.S. military ID or a U.S. passport.

The Justice Department must approve changes to South Carolina's election laws under the federal Voting Rights Act because of the state's past failure to protect the voting rights of blacks. Groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union also are challenging it.

[occupy_cbs]

FixBayonets: "go look at Holder's background - He ordered the Tanks to burn down Wako when he was in the Justice Dept"



Typical fox/rush parrot of the delusional and desperate type, only here to spew irrational lies and deceptions!

The Waco siege occurred in early 1993 (Ruby Ridge happened in 1992 while poppy bush was president) while Eric Holder was still serving as a judge of the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, appointed by President Reagan in 1988.

Holder stepped down from the bench in October, 1993, to accept an appointment as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia from President Bill Clinton.

Eric Holder was a U.S. Attorney until his elevation to Deputy Attorney General on June 13, 1997, almost 4 & 1/2 years AFTER Waco!

You're just making it up as you go along, as most uneducated fox/rush parrots do today, with endless lies and deceptions!

[nearl451]

A positive step for voter's rights.

[occupy_cbs]

ainttaken: "The democrats have not got a chance in SC anyway.....This is simply an unconstitutional and anti democracy move by ruthless republicans who will do anything, including defile the constitution to keep someone else from voting or making a dollar they couldn't have."



Very true, just typical voter suppression in the deep redneck south, that's been going on ever since any minorities could vote!

[occupy_cbs]

RetiredArmy_Nurse: "I've spotted bmallen's numerous untrue statements in the past."



Just a typical conservatroll and fox/rush parrot of lies and deceptions!

[occupy_cbs]

After the backroom deal known as the "Compromise of 1877," white-racists throughout the country were given free reign to oppress and persecute non-whites.

Legal disenfranchisement: New state laws are passed to sabotage and render ineffective the 15th Amendment.


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RobAla: "The 1960's were half a century ago, and times have changed."
=====




Thanks for proving my point, that there is absolutely no difference between 1877, the 1960's and 2011, with the GOP white supremacist party at it again, passing new state laws designed to sabotage and render ineffective the 15th Amendment, as well as the 1965 Voter Rights Act.

[44wonder]

Give us a break occupy_cbs and take a breath and rest your fingers...Your rambling again as usual...

[RetiredArmy_Nurse]

Dear logic, read your history again. The parties made an ideological switch starting around 1890 thru 1920. The party of Lincoln exists no more in the republican party. I wrote a paper on this for my master's degree, so I had to research it pretty well.

[occupy_cbs]

After the backroom deal known as the "Compromise of 1877," white-racists throughout the country were given free reign to oppress and persecute non-whites.

Legal disenfranchisement: New state laws are passed to sabotage and render ineffective the 15th Amendment.


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logicnothuff: "That was then, and this is now."
=====




Thanks for proving my point, that there is absolutely no difference between 1877 and 2011, with the GOP white supremacist party at it again, passing new state laws designed to sabotage and render ineffective the 15th Amendment, as well as the 1965 Voter Rights Act.

[occupy_cbs]

logicnothuff: "There was voter fraud in the Al Franken election"



Typical fox/rush parrot, 'trying' to interject an unfounded accusation of 'voter fraud,' without any proof whatsoever, because they didn't like the outcome of the election!

[RetiredArmy_Nurse]

Minnesota is like Wisconsin used to be. They have one of the best election systems in the nation. Every last vote had to be counted and Franken did win in the end. Problem is that people even listen to Fox News. It is not news, but rather just a propaganda station. In the Army we called propaganda what it is, just a pack of lies. And that is what you get on Fox News. Best advice I can give is go to NPR, CNN, CBS, NBC. They all try to get the facts straight as best they can. This is not true of Fox. People who only listen to Fox are less informed than those who listen to no news at all.

[occupy_cbs]

Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News

Some News Leaves People Knowing Less
http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/

[occupy_cbs]

logicnothuff: "Fox News .....providing FACTS instead of propaganda."



Thanks for proving my point, and not knowing what "facts" really are!


Fox News Viewers Know Less Than People Who Don't Watch Any News

Some News Leaves People Knowing Less
http://publicmind.fdu.edu/2011/knowless/


Hey illogical -- keep parroting that nasty fox/rush propaganda!

[occupy_cbs]

Nice blanket accusation, but again, like a typical fox/rush parrot of endless propaganda, doesn't even pass the 'smell' test!

[occupy_cbs]

1870: 15th Amendment extends vote to Blacks.

Adoption of the 15th Amendment in 1870 extends voting rights to Black males -- in theory.

In reality, there is massive resistance to the intent of the 15th Amendment, particularly in the Southern states. Violence and economic reprisal are used to intimidate and prevent Black men from voting.

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vsmit: "By your logic we should allow the English to vote because we disenfranchised them in 1776!"
=====



Which country around the world, allows citizens and residents of OTHER countries to vote in their elections?.......NONE!

Go fish, you misinformed fox/rush parrot!

[occupy_cbs]

Again....Which country around the world, allows citizens and residents of OTHER countries to vote in their elections?.......NONE!

Go fish, you misinformed fox/rush parrot!

[RobAla]

RetiredArmy_Nurse: I truly appreciate your service. Here in Alabama, we are given paper IDs (no picture) when we register to vote and we can use a number of different IDs at at the polls (I usually show them my driver's license). Voting is a precious right, and not everyone living in the United States has that right. I would guess that a picture ID would be an effort to keep illegal immigrants (who have no right to vote) from casting votes illegally.

We also do not register to vote based on any party affiliation. We are simply registered voters, and we can vote in whatever party primary that we wish (but we can only vote in one - we can't vote in both the Democrat and the Republican primaries in the same year). If we wish to become a member of a political party, that is a separate issue than being registered to vote. I am not a member of any political party, and I like that way. I have nothing against anyone who wishes to belong to a party - it's a free country, partly because of people like you who have served. Thank you.

I think if SC wants to make it mandatory to have a picture ID to vote, they should also provide the picture ID.

[RetiredArmy_Nurse]

The problem is not so much the ID itself, but the hoops one must jump thru to get it. SC provides the ID, but you have to go and get it. Again, my argument is that none of this expensive bother is even required. We do not have voter fraud, nor do we have illegal immigrants casting votes. They would never take such a chance. The whole voter ID argument is based on the fraudulent premise that we have to keep our elections "pure," as someone in Tennessee said. Elections were never impure from the standpoint of who voted (although state powers over the election could be very suspect, as are our current republican state governments). You are right that voting is a precious right, which is why people like me, who served in uniform to protect this right, are fighting to get the word out that these laws are unamerican, unpatriotic, discriminatory, and unchristian.