By Holley Hewitt Ulbrich, guest contributor | As the June primaries approach, many voters are being discouraged from voting by misleading explanations of South Carolina’s Voter ID law.
This law, passed to ”solve” the non-existent problem of voter fraud, requires one of the following forms of photo ID in order to vote: currently valid S.C. Driver’s license, ID card issued by S.C. Department of Motor Vehicles, S.C. voter registration card with photo, federal military ID or currently valid US passport.
If you do not have one of the photo IDs above, registered voters can get a voter registration card with a photo from the county voter registration and election commission during normal office hours by simply providing name, date of birth and the last four digits of their Social Security number. Or they can get a DMV ID card at a local DMV office, but it will involve more documentation, such as a birth certificate. Check with DMV or scdmvonline.com for required documents. Senior citizens who expect to be unable to renew their driver’s licenses because of vision or other problems should try to get one of these forms of photo ID while they still have a valid driver’s license.
Here’s the part that many voters and poll workers don’t know: If you have a reasonable impediment to obtaining a photo ID, you may vote a paper provisional ballot after showing your non-photo voter registration card. A reasonable impediment is any valid reason, beyond your control, which created an obstacle to obtaining photo ID. Examples include religious objection to being photographed, disability or illness, work schedule, lack of transportation, lack of birth certificate, family responsibilities or any other obstacle that you find reasonable.
To vote under the reasonable impediment exception, you present your current, non-photo voter registration card at the polling place, sign an affidavit stating why you could not obtain a Photo ID, and cast a provisional ballot that will be counted unless the county voter registration and election commission has reason to believe your affidavit is false. If the poll worker doesn’t believe you, tell them it is all spelled out on the website SCVotes.gov and they should look it up.
If you do NOT have photo ID and do NOT have a reasonable impediment to obtaining one, or you simply forgot to bring it with you to the polls, you may still vote a paper provisional ballot. However, for your vote to be counted, you must provide one of the photo IDs to the county Registration & Elections Commission prior to certification of the election (usually Thursday or Friday after the election).
Absentee voting in person requires a photo ID, but absentee voting by mail does not.
Voting is both a privilege and a responsibility. Help your fellow citizens by sharing this information with your friends and neighbors!
Holley Hewitt Ulbrich is an Alumni Distinguished Professor Emerita of Economics at Clemson University and a member of the Board of Directors of the League of Women Voters of South Carolina. Have a comment? Send to feedback@statehousereport.com
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