Confusion Over South Carolina ID Law Could Keep Voters Away
According to the state’s numbers, 178,000 South Carolinians, disproportionately non-whites, don’t have any of the forms of photo ID that the law calls for. Crucially, people are in fact allowed to vote even without a photo ID, as long as they sign an affidavit stating why they don’t have one. But those working to mobilize voters say which documents are and aren’t required is not well understood.
“I think people are confused,” said Jan Leonard, an official with the Charleston County Democratic Party. “People ask me all the time: What about this, what about that?”
Murky messaging on what’s required
Leonard and others say the state has helped stoke that confusion through its public education campaign about the law. Handouts and polling place posters created by the state election commission declare: “Photo ID Requirements Now In Effect: Voters will be asked to show one of these photo IDs before voting in person.” Only in much smaller text below that—and even there, not until the third paragraph—do voters learn that they can vote without ID.
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