Registered South Carolina voters who don’t have photo identification will be able to vote in in elections in the state, a spokesman for the state Election Commission told Radio Baha’i.
“With or without a photo ID, registered voters will be able to vote and their vote will count, under certain conditions,” said Chris Whitmire, Director of Public Information and Training at the SC Election Commission.
Voters will be allowed to vote even without a photo ID, as long as they sign an affidavit stating why they don’t have one, and citing a “reasonable impediment,” Whitmire said.
“And unless it turns out that your affidavit is fraudulent, your vote will count,” he said. Voters who have a photo ID but didn’t bring it to the polls will cast a provisional ballot, but they must present their ID to county elections officials after the election and before the election is certified.
South Carolina’s photo voter ID law went into effect in 2013. Critics of the law say that it has the effect of suppressing voting by a significant portion of the state’s population, mostly minority voters. During this primary season in the run up the general election in November, voting rights advocates in SC and other states with relatively new photo ID laws have raised concerns about misleading messages about the laws.
The messaging from state and political party leaders is confusing, potentially leading voters without ID to stay away from the polls. In SC, posters and literature from the state Election Commission indicate in large print that a photo ID is now required to vote while the fact that a voter can cast a ballot without a photo ID is shown in fine print.
While there may be some confusion, if voters visit the state Election Commission website or read the fine print on posters and other literature, the information found there should clear up any confusion, Whitmire said.
“What’s very important to understand,” Whitemire said, “is that no registered eligible voter that wants to vote will be turned away.”
